Jean Rigby studied at the Birmingham School of Music and at the Royal Academy of Music with Patricia Clarke, with whom she continues to work. She made her Glynebourne Festival Opera debut as Hippolyta (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), followed by Mercedes (Carmen), Nancy (Albert Herring), Irene (Theodora), Genevieve (Pelleas et Mélisande), Eduige (Rodelinda) and Emila (Otello). Other roles include Penelope (The Return of Ulysees), Jocasta (Oedipus Rex), Rosina (The Barber of Seville), Helen of Troy (King Priam), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Amastris (Xerxes), Meg Page (Falstaff), Ruth (The Pirates of Penzance), Suzuki (Madame Butterfly), Nicklausse (Les Contes d’Hoffmann) at the Royal Opera House and San Diego, Dryade (Ariadne auf Naxos) at the Royal Opera House, the title roles in Carmen, La Cenerentola, and The Rape of Lucretia, Charlotte (Werther) in Seattle, and Idamante (Idomeneo) for Garsington Opera. She sings regularly with all the major orchestras and conductors and at the BBC Proms. Recordings include Elgar’s The Music Makers with Andrew Davis, The Rape of Lucretia under Richard Hickox, and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Mark Wigglesworth.