Carolyn Watkinson, born on March 19, 1949, in Preston, England, was a British mezzo-soprano singer specializing in baroque music. She trained at the Royal Manchester College of Music and in La Haya. In 1978, she performed the role of Phèdre in Hipólito y Aricia by Jean-Philippe Rameau at the English Bach Festival held at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. The following year, Watkinson participated in Monteverdi's Nero with De Nederlandse Opera and was featured as a solo contralto in Christopher Hogwood's historic recording of Handel's Messiah. In 1981, she made her debut at La Scala as Ariodante. Notable recordings include Handel: Serse, released in 1979, and Recital at Wigmore Hall from 1987. Watkinson's career highlights also included a performance of Bach’s St. John Passion at Gloucester Cathedral in 1989.
