04-07-2025
Behind the music - Lotte Betts-Dean
The West Cork Chamber Music Festival celebrates its 30th anniversary between 27 June and 6 July in Bantry with a programme including a performance from Australian mezzo soprano Lotte Betts Dean. We asked her the BIG questions . . .
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
I am addicted to coffee, Manchego cheese, Haribo tangtastics, sneakers and nail extensions.
My favourite person in the world is my two-year-old nephew Hugo, closely followed by his mother, my younger sister Kiki.
I was born in Berlin and was raised bilingual, for which I am extremely grateful.
How would you describe your music?
Varied!! I perform all kinds of classical music, from baroque to opera to song to new music, as well as non-classical things like pop covers, jazz and folk. I love doing all sorts and am never bored.
Who are your musical inspirations?
Sinéad O'Connor, Anne-Sofie von Otter, Caroline Polachek, Charli XCX, Cocteau Twins, Chet Baker, Dame Janet Baker, and my father, composer and violist Brett Dean.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
It would have been an orchestral concert by the Berlin Philharmonic, of which my father was a member, when I was a toddler! I do remember my first opera, which was a particularly grizzly production of Boris Godunov at Salzburg Festival when I was seven years old. I loved it.
What was the first record you ever bought?
The first album was Britney's debut album (#freeBritney forever) and the first single (remember those?!) was Whitney Houston's My Love is Your Love, a song I still adore.
What's your favourite song right now?
I've been falling asleep to Kali Malone's solo experimental pipe organ album The Sacrificial Code for a month. It is a godsend.
Favourite lyric of all time?
Don't have a favourite, but a lot of Joni Mitchell's lyrics floor me every time I hear them. The flow, the casualness, the unexpected shocking profundity.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
This is SUCH a cruel question!!! Can I ask for one piece of music? Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium.
My website, via my management company Askonas Holt, or on socials: @dottelettsbean on Instagram / @lottebettsdean on x.
