Jean Rigby studied at the Birmingham School of Music and then at the Royal Academy of Music with Patricia Clarke
Her many roles at English National Opera have included Penelope (The Return of Ulysses), Jocasta (Oedipus Rex), Carmen, Octavian, Britten’s Lucretia, Rosina, Helen of Troy (King Priam), Hyppolyta (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Amastris (Xerxes), Meg Page (Falstaff), Nicklausse (The Tales of Hoffmann) and Ruth (The Pirates of Penzance).
She is a regular guest at the Glyndebourne Festival. For the Royal Opera, Covent Garden she has sung Nicklausse and Dryade (Ariadne auf Naxos). She has sung Isabella (L’italiana in Algeri) for the Buxton Festival and both Angelina (La Cenerentola) and Idamantes (Idomeneo) for Garsington Opera. Abroad, she has appeared with the Netherlands Opera), the Flanders Opera, Seattle Opera and San Diego Opera.
Jean Rigby appears with the major orchestras and is a regular soloist at the BBC Promenade concerts. Her engagements have included concerts with Sir Neville Marriner, Trevor Pinnock, Mikhail Pletnev, Matthias Bamert, Robert King, Richard Hickox, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Charles Mackerras and Leonard Slatkin.
Jean Rigby’s extensive discography ranges from Bach, Vivaldi and Handel to Britten, Janáček and Birtwistle.