Dame Isoleen Heather Begg DNZM OBE (1 December 1932 – 12 May 2009)
Operatic mezzo-soprano
Dame Heather Begg spent most of her career in the United Kingdom and Australia. She was renowned in roles such as the title role in Bizet's Carmen, Amneris in Verdi's Aida and in lighter operas such as The Mikado (watch: The Mikado - Act 1 Finale.flv, uploaded by DancairoOpera. Accessed Dec. 1, 2018.) and The Gondoliers. She appeared alongside Dame Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Beverly Sills, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Plácido Domingo, Montserrat Caballé, Dame Janet Baker, José Carreras, and many other prominent singers. Her recording with Glenys Fowles of the "Flower Duet" from Delibes's Lakmé has become famous.
Heather Begg was born on December 1, 1932 in Nelson, New Zealand. She married Johnnie King, a Canadian, in 1964. He died in 1979. They had no children. On 12 May 2009, Begg died of leukemia, aged 76, in Canterbury Hospital, Campsie, Sydney, where she had made her home for many years.
Begg studied in Auckland with Sister Mary Leo and at the New South Wales State Conservatorium, during which time she won the 1955 Sydney
Sun Aria contest. She was engaged as a principal mezzo-soprano with the
National Opera of Australia from 1954-56. Her professional debut was as
Azucena in Verdi's Il trovatore.
