Heather Begg

Dame Isoleen Heather Begg (1 December 1932 – 12 May 2009) and became renowned as the title role in Bizet's Carmen, Amneris in Verdi's Aida and in lighter operas such as The Gondoliers.

Biography Born in Nelson, New Zealand in 1932, 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 to 1956. Her professional debut in 1954 was as Azucena in Verdi's Il trovatore.

She went to London in 1957 to attend the London Opera Centre on a musical scholarship.

She was a principal resident mezzo-soprano at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, where she stayed from 1969 to 1976. She also appeared as Katisha in The Mikado at The Sydney Opera House with The Australian Opera, a performance issued on video.

In 1976 she accepted an invitation from Richard Bonynge to join the Australian Opera,

Marriage She married Johnnie King, a Canadian, in 1964. He died in 1979. They had no children.

Honours Begg was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1978 New Year Honours and in the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours became a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to opera.

In April 2009, a month before her death, Begg's DCNZM was redesignated Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM), after the New Zealand government decided in March 2009 to restore the titles of knights and dames to the honours system. She was the first person to be so designated as her advanced illness caused the change to be gazetted ahead of the planned honours list in August.