Heather Harper was born on May 8, 1930 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK. She was an actress, known for Choke (2008), Peter Grimes (1981) and A Tale of Two Cities (1958). She was married to Eduardo Benarroch and Leonard Buck. She died on April 22, 2019 in the UK.
She originally planned to become a concert pianist and studied piano at the conservatory of Trinity College. She also studied violin and viola before turning her attention to singing. She later taught at the Royal College of Music in London.
For the world premiere of Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem" in Coventry, England, she learned the soprano part with only 10 days' notice. The original soprano, Galina Vishnevskaya, had been denied an exit visa by the Soviet Cultural Ministry.
She made her New York Metropolitan Opera debut as the Countess Almaviva in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro.".
She made her debut at the Royal Opera at Covent Garden as Helena in Britten's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and later appeared in the composer's operas "The Turn of the Screw" and "Owen Wingrave." She became especially known for her performance as Ellen Orford in Britten's "Peter Grimes".