HEATHER JOHNSON

Heather Johnson, an internationally accomplished mezzo-soprano hailed by Opera News as "a dramatic singer in the truest sense", has sung with companies including the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Dallas Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Austin Opera and the Volkstheater in Rostock, Germany, in roles including the title roles in Bizet’s Carmen, Rossini’s Cenerentola and Tancredi and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, as well as Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Despina in Così fan tutte, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Dinah in Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti,  Baba the Turk in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress and Jan Arnold in Joby Talbot's Everest. A longtime champion of new American opera, Ms. Johnson has created leading roles in the world premieres of Haroun and the Sea of Stories(Wuorinen/Fenton, New York City Opera) and The Long Walk (Beck/Fleischmann, American Lyric Theater / Opera Saratoga).  Most recently, she has been workshopping the role of Khava in the development of Tevye’s Daughters, a new opera by Alex Weiser and Stephanie Fleischmann commissioned by American Lyric Theater.

A dedicated teacher of singing, Ms. Johnson serves as chair of the voice faculty at the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival in Virginia, where she teaches voice, performs, creates curriculum, and collaborates in long-range planning, strategic vision and development. With over a decade of experience in fundraising and arts leadership, including key roles with Mill City Summer Opera and The Heschel School, Ms. Johnson has also been responsible for organizing major fundraisers, cultivating donor relationships, and contributing to strategic planning to support both artistic and financial objectives. She has also served frequently as a seminar panelist and grant panelist for OPERA America and is a board member for Victory Hall Opera in Virginia. A native Minnesotan, she now resides in New York.