Charlotte Pawley

British soprano Charlotte Pawley is based in Cardiff, under the tutelage of Elizabeth Donovan. She originally studied English Literature at The University of Oxford, and is a recent graduate of the David Seligman Opera School at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, supported by Help Musicians.

Charlotte was one of the ‘outstanding vocal finalists’ in the June 2025 Sir Ian Stoutzer Prize, the 2024 winner of the Adelina Patti Prize and in 2023 was the winner of the RWCMD Eileen Price Prize for Lieder Singing, and The Elias Singing Prize for Sopranos. Her studies at the college were supported by the Starmer Jones Scholarship and the Jenkin-Phillips Scholarships, and she is a Sybil Tutton Opera Award Holder.

Her engagements at the David Seligman Opera School include Donna Eleonora, (Prima la musica, poi le parole – Salieri) Contessa Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Tytania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Der Sandmann in (Hänsel und Gretel), L’usignolo & Il fuso (La bella dormente nel bosco), Sister Catherine (The Dialogue of the Carmelites) and performances with the Oxford Alternative Orchestra and the Leeds Opera Festival as Charlotte (Der Diktator).

Previous operatic roles and excerpts include Marzelline (Fidelio) in the 2023 WNO Opera Gala; Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Naiad (Ariadne auf Naxos), Frasquita (Carmen) and Second Neice (Peter Grimes) in RWCMD opera scenes; Nannetta (Falstaff), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Magda (The Consul), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Amore (Orfeo ed Euridice), Belinda (Dido and Aeneas) and Amore (Venus and Adonis) with the Cumbria Opera Group. She has also performed in the chorus in productions with the Oxford Opera Society, The People’s Opera, and Barricade Arts.

As a concert soloist, Charlotte has performed with the Newbury Symphony Orchestra, St Hilda’s College Choir and University College Choir, and premiered the role of Begu, a nun in ‘St Hilda of Whitby: A Cantata’ by Nicola LeFanu for St Hilda’s 125th Anniversary celebrations. A keen performer of contemporary works, Charlotte, along with three other sopranos, also premiered the song cycle ‘Redmoonsong’ by John Hardy as part of the Atmospheres Festival at RWCMD.