Merel-Magali Cox • Mezzo-Soprano
biography
Dutch mezzo-soprano Merel-Magali Cox is currently in her first year of her Masters degree at the Royal Northern College of Music, where she studies under the tutelage of Mary Plazas. During her studies she has been awarded the Dame Eva Turner Award, Help Musicians (Dick Maidment & Peggy Cooper Award), Het Cultuurfonds (Aafje Heynis & Rome Kalma Trusts) and has been generously supported by Peter Snook and the James and Mary Glass Scholarship.
In 2024, Merel-Magali completed her undergraduate studies at the RNCM with Hilary Summers and Mary Plazas, graduating with distinction and honours.
Her operatic roles include Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (Kleine Opera), Idamante in Mozart’s abridged version of Idomeneo (RNCM Spotlight), Solomon in Handel’s Solomon (Bolton Festival Orchestra & Choir), Linette in Prokofiev's L'Amour des trois oranges (RNCM Opera), and Woodpecker (and cover Mrs Pasek) in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen (RNCM Opera). Merel-Magali is looking forward to perform the role of Fidalma in Kleine Opera's production of Il Matrimonio Segreto and she will join Buxton International Festival as a Young Artist, performing in La Traviata, La Clemenza di Tito and Pauline Viardot’s Le Dernier Sorcier.
Merel-Magali has appeared in numerous productions with Muziektheater Transparant (Belgium), Dorset Opera Festival (UK), and Opéra de Baugé (France), performing in works such as Nabucco, Faust, Le Nozze di Figaro, The Magic Flute, Manon Lescaut, Carmen, Don Carlos, and L’Elisir d’Amore. At the RNCM, she has sung in the opera choruses of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and J Strauss’ Die Fledermaus.
Additionally, she has performed a wide range of roles in opera scenes, including Medoro Orlando, Julia Bertram Mansfield Park, Dorabella Così fan tutte, Marcellina Le Nozze di Figaro, Apollonia La Canterina and Arsamene Serse.
@Esther Shea
A finalist in the prestigious Frederic Cox Award of Singing, her competition successes include winning the Bessie Cronshaw/Frost Brownson Song Cycle Competition, receiving second prize at the Williams–Howard Prize, third prize in the GSVC in Michigan, and finalist placements in both the Recital and Opera categories of the David Clover Competition for Singing in Sheffield. Merel-Magali is excited to share that she will be performing as a finalist in The Joyce and Michael Kennedy Award for the Singing of Strauss in June.
Alongside her operatic work, Merel-Magali enjoys a diverse solo career in oratorio and recital repertoire. Most recently, she was selected to join the prestigious RNCM Songsters, a selective pool of accomplished singers and collaborative pianists at the conservatoire. She has performed recitals at Bridgewater Hall, Carole Nash Recital Room, RNCM Concert Hall and Buxton International Festival.
Her most recent concert highlights include Bach’s Johannes Passion with the renowned ensemble Manchester Baroque, Weihnachts-oratorium and Matthäus-Passion with Liverpool Bach Collective, Beethoven's Ninth 'Choral Fantasy' Symphony, Britten’s Canticle II and Rejoice the Lamb, Handel’s Messiah & Dixit Dominus, Haydn’s Nelson Mass, Rutter’s Feel the Spirit & Gloria, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Requiems by Mozart, Haydn, and Duruflé and various masses.
Most recently, Merel-Magali made her international debut with Elgar’s The Music Makers and Sea Pictures with Toonkunstkoor Roermond and Drents Symphonic Orchestra in the Netherlands.
She has collaborated with ensembles such as O/Modernt, City of London Sinfonia, Leeds Philharmonic Choir, Manchester Cathedral, Salford Cathedral, Hallé Choral Academy, Wilmslow Symphony Orchestra and the Salford, Birkenhead, Lower Windrush, Bakewell, and Congleton Choral Societies, collaborating with conductors including Michael Papadopoulos, Tom Newall and David Hill MBE.
Upcoming solo engagements include Mozart's Coronation Mass and Vespers with Bakewell Choral Society and Bach’s Magnificat and Himmelfahrtsoratorium with Toonkunstkoor Roermond in The Netherlands.
@Mike Cooter
Merel-Magali is also a sought-after ensemble singer. She has performed at prestigious venues including the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Royal Albert Hall in London, Queen Silvia Concert Hall in Stockholm, Grieghallen in Bergen, and she appeared in the recent Sony/BBC film The Choral (Alan Bennett) directed by Nicholas Hytner and staring Ralph Fiennes, Roger Allam and Alan Armstrong, among others.
She is a VOCES8 Scholar (25/26), a member of VOCES8 Scholars Ensemble and The Mancunium Consort, described by The Gesualdo Six as “one of the rising stars of the choral music scene,” with whom the group has recently collaborated in concert. The group's debut album, A New Light, was released in autumn 2025 under the VOCES8 Records label and is available to stream and purchase now. And the group's second album is just around the corner..!
Merel-Magali previously served as an alto lay clerk at Manchester Cathedral, singing daily services and featuring in broadcasts such as BBC Radio 3’s Choral Evensong and BBC One’s Christmas Morning Service.
Merel-Magali has recorded eight CDs with various ensembles, including The Mancunium Consort, Phoenix Ensemble, Salford Cathedral Choir, St-Martin-in-the-Fields diocese of Manchester, Edvard Grieg Korene, RNCM Chamber Choir, the VOCES8 Foundation Choir, and the VOCES8 Scholar Ensemble. In the upcoming months, Merel-Magali will tour with the latter ensemble throughout the UK, Sweden, Italy, Spain, France, and Colombia.
Merel-Magali has participated in masterclasses and coaching sessions with Ann Murray DBE, Jennifer Larmore, Della Jones, Michael Chance, Mary Bevan, Rupert Burleigh, Ingrid Surgenor, Gary Matthewman, Martin Picard, Dr Louise Toppin, Nadine Benjamin MBE, Susan Bullock, Andrew Watts, Henry Waddington, Nico de Villiers, Janet Haney, Gary Jankowski, Claron McFadden, and others.
repertoire
Please do not reproduce without permission, updated April 2026
CV AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
conducting
Alongside her singing career, Merel-Magali is an emerging conductor with a growing reputation. Between her undergraduate and master’s degree in singing, she completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Community Conducting and Education with Distinction at the RNCM, studying under Mark Heron, Stuart Overington and Robert Gardiner, with generous support from The Wavendon Foundation.
During her undergraduate studies, Merel Magali undertook all the available conducting modules, completing her final exam with the Blackpool Symphony Orchestra. She has conducted the upper-voice ensemble Voci Unité, leading performances for International Women's Day, the opening of a new exhibition at Manchester Museum, as well as internally at the RNCM.
Merel-Magali also works closely with the community ensembles in and around Manchester and most recently served as the Music Director for Somnium Chamber Choir, with whom she delivered a season of successful concerts and projects.
BESIDES ALL OF THAT…
When not involved in music of any kind, Merel-Magali enjoys hanging out with friends, watching good cinema, playing video games and spending time looking for new repertoire in her personal physical score library or her trillion Spotify playlists.
@Ellie Forrester