An Anglo-Swedish Society scholar, Mae Heydorn studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Graduating with distinction she made her operatic debut with Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Woodpecker in The Cunning Little Vixen. Mae is the winner of the Swedish Wagner Prize 2019.
A Making Music Philip and Dorothy Green Award winner, Mae performs in recitals across the UK with the English Chamber Orchestra at Cadogan Hall, at St John’s Smith Square, the Oxford International Song Festival (formerly Oxford Lieder) and Music at Oxford.
At the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival at Harrogate and Buxton Opera House she is especially noted for her characterisations of Katisha, Phoebe and Mad Margaret.
Contemporary performances include the world premiere of Opera Mums with Bryony Kimmings streamed on BBC4 and Birtwistle’s The Mask of Orpheus at English National Opera.
In 2021 the UK premiere of Gounod’s La nonne sanglante earned her an Offie nomination for best performance in the title role and an Offie Award for best opera production.
In 2023 Mae sang Handel at Sotheby’s as part of Oliver Zeffman’s Barbican Classical Pride. She understudied Bianca in The Rape of Lucretia & Mrs Grose in The Turn of the Screw at Glyndebourne and continues her love of performing Britten’s music most recently as Auntie in Peter Grimes at the Southbank Centre.