Grace Lovelass

About Grace Lovelass

Grace Lovelass is an operatic mezzo-soprano whose roles include Witch/Mother in Hansel & Gretel and Tisbe in La Cenerentola (both Opera Kipling/Camden Fringe), Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi and Dido in Dido & Aeneas (both Red Earth Opera), the Sorceress in Dido & Aeneas (Somerset Opera), Adalgisa in Norma and Nancy/Julia in Martha (both Heber Opera) and Marthe Schwerdtlein in Faust with Opéra de Baugé, where she was awarded the Gil-Rodriguez scholarship. She has also sung Olga in Eugene Onegin and Flora in La Traviata (both Oxford Alternative Orchestra), as well as Olga/Margot in The Merry Widow (Opéra de Baugé).

An energetic and versatile entertainer, Grace has written and produced three comedy music shows, most recently Ballgowns & Bib Shorts – the musical memoir of an opera-singing triathlete, which premiered at Dorchester Arts in February. An effervescent mix of classical, show tunes and popular music, as well as irreverent, custom-written parody, the show was developed with support from the Sanctuary scheme at Lighthouse – Poole’s Centre for the Arts, and follows on from the success of solo projects Graceful in 2022 and Disgraceful in 2023.

As a concert soloist she has worked with Purbeck Arts Choir, sung Candelas in Manuel de Falla’s El amor brujo with Oxford University Sinfonietta and in 2022, premiered the role of Mary Magdalene in a new Passion setting under the baton of David Ogden and the City of Bristol Choir.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Grace joined the cast for the Virtual Opera Project‘s award-winning production of L’Enfant et les Sortilèges – a collaboration with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She combined her singing and acting talents on stage as Queen Bee in Exit the Queen – a fringe creation from Brighton Theatre before returning in 2022 as Tamburlaine in Cocky & the Tardigrades. In 2023, she made her Edinburgh Fringe debut as Glory in Are you worthy? – a musical penned by bass player and singer/songwriter Grant Sharkey.

She performed under the direction of Pamela Howard OBE as part of Bernstein in Chichester 2018 and singspiel scenario, The Ballad of the Cosmo Café.

Originally from Bedfordshire, Grace read Classics at King’s College London, taking lead roles in the annual King’s College Greek Play performed in ancient Greek.

Formerly a public relations manager, Grace embarked on a second career in music after joining a group of amateur players who performed variety shows in a gaslit cinema. Rediscovering a childhood love for the stage, she took private lessons and made her classical/operatic debut at the Bournemouth Music Competitions Festival in 2015. On her return to the festival in 2016, she won first place in five classes, taking home the Dudley James Cup for Opera, Muriel Segal Cup for Lieder and Elizabeth Parkinson Cup for Oratorio.

Grace was awarded an artist development bursary from Purbeck Art Weeks and received an overwhelming response to an online Crowdfunder campaign, funding her studies in Opera at the Associated Studios. She gained her first experiences on the professional opera stage with Dorset Opera Festival.

Grace lives with her husband in Dorset, close to picturesque coastal landmarks, Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door.

A keen triathlete, she swims, cycles and runs along the South Coast. Grace is a two-time IRONMAN finisher, having recorded a personal best at Barcelona in 2023. She documented her induction to triathlon in Trioomph – the podcast and has a third full-distance race booked for 2025.

Grace has a busy diary as a public speaker and has given her talk Glitz, glamour & blowing raspberries – confessions of an off-duty opera singer more than 50 times, most frequently to members of the Women’s Institute.

Grace is also a trained dancer who has competed in ballroom and latin at the world famous Blackpool Tower Ballroom, and an artist – she draws and paints dancers and female archetypes in graphite and watercolour.