Yorkshire born Ann Wilkes studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, and was awarded a first-class honours undergraduate degree and her masters. Her roles at RNCM included Suor Dolcina in Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Moth in Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Ann is in demand as an Oratorio singer with highlights including: Bach’s Cantatas 140 and 147, Brahms’ Requiem, Faure’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Missa in angustiis, Paukenmesse, and Theresienmesse, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Requiem and Solemn Vespers, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Poulenc’s Gloria and Vivaldi’s Beatus Vir, Gloria, and Magnificat.