Glenys Fowles

Glenys Rae Fowles AM (born 4 November 1941; some sources say 1946) is an Australian operatic soprano who sang with Opera Australia and its predecessors for many years. She also sang at Covent Garden, Glyndebourne, and for the New York City Opera, San Diego Opera, and Scottish Opera. She also appeared at the BBC Proms and with the New York Philharmonic. Her recording with Heather Begg of the "Flower Duet" from Delibes's Lakmé has become famous.

Fowles was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1941; she studied there with Lucy Howell. She appeared as Gretel in Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel in her school's production, at age 12. Her adult debut was as Micaela in Carmen for West Australian Opera. In 1967 she won the vocal section in the ABC Instrumental and Vocal Competition (now known as the ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Awards). In 1968 she was the first Australian to win a cash prize in the finals of the New York Metropolitan Opera Auditions, when she won the $500 Ludwig Donath Memorial Metropolitan Opera Studio Scholarship. She trained with the Met for two months, then joined the Elizabethan Theatre Trust Opera, making her debut in 1969 as Oscar in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera. She appeared at Covent Garden in 1973, and as Ilia in Idomeneo in 1974 at Glyndebourne. For Scottish Opera she sang Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) and Tatiana (Eugene Onegin).