“lively, incisive soprano”
New York Times
Rising American soprano Emily Pogorelc is considered one of the most gifted singers of her generation and is praised by critics and audiences alike for her soaring, unique voice and her captivating stage presence.
Emily Pogorelc’s 23/24 season is marked by five major role and house debuts, respectively. She begins the season with a house and role debut singing Servilia in La Clemenza di Tito at the Royal Danish Opera Copenhagen, a role which is also the vehicle for her debut with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in 2024. The soprano returns to the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich for her final season as an ensemble member, making her role debut as Ilia in Idomeneo and reprising her successful portrayals of Pamina in Zauberflöte and Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore. She returns to the Semperoper Dresden for a revival of Rolando Villazón’s production of La Sonnambula, a role she debuted to critical acclaim in the 22/23 season. In her native US, Emily Pogorelc makes her eagerly awaited house debut as Lisette in Puccini’s La rondine at the Met. She makes another house and role debut as, Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis before closing the season as Servilia in a concert performance of La Clemenza di Tito at Festival Aix-en-Provence, led by celebrated conductor Raphaël Pichon.
On the concert stage, Emily Pogorelc joins Rolando Villazón for open-air galas in Bratislava and Luxembourg. She collaborates with the Camerata Salzburg, presenting Mozart arias, and later returns to Salzburg to perform Mozart’s Requiem with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg under the baton of Pablo Heras-Casado.
Highlights of previous seasons include Amina in Rolando Villazón’s production of La sonnambula at Semperoper Dresden, Cherubino at Glyndebourne Festival, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette at Florentine Opera in her hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and der Hirt in Tannhäuser at the Salzburg Osterfestspiele. She has appeared twice in Marina Abramović’s 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, as Violetta Valéry (Munich/Bayerische Staatsoper, 2021) and Norma (Amsterdam/Royal Carré Theatre, 2022)
Off the operatic stage, highlights include recitals with frequent collaborator, pianist Chris Reynolds, making her recital debut at Kennedy Center in DC and recording a recital as part of Deutsche Grammophon’s new series “Rising Stars” on STAGE+, showcasing the best young talents in classical music.
She also appeared frequently in concerts with tenor Rolando Villazón and elsewhere in concert at the Mozartwoche festival in Salzburg, with Iceland Symphony Orchestra (Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem under the baton of Bertrand de Billy) and with Luxembourg Philharmonic.
A member of the Bayerische Staatsoper ensemble from 2020-2024, Ms. Pogorelc made her house debut in a new production of Walter Braufels’ Die Vögelcas die Zaunschlüpfer. Her roles at Bayerische Staatsoper include Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore, Musetta in La bohème, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Sofia in Il signor Bruschino, Ilia in Idomeneo, Soeur Constance in Dialogues des Carmelites and Ein Liebespaar/Suor Genovieffa/Lauretta in Il Trittico.
“But the stand-out feature here is the sensational contribution of American soprano Emily Pogorelc, who is rapidly becoming a star on the European operatic scene. Her singing here has superb technical sureness, state-of-the-art command of the music’s wild emotional switchbacks and firework-display virtuosity to match…The far finer expressive range and sensibility of Paisiello’s idiom reveals her as an artist of much soul as well as brilliance.”
Malcolm Hayes, BBC Music [December 2023]
Ms. Pogorelc is also an Associate Artist with the group, The Mozartists in London and has been featured in recording in their third volume in their acclaimed ‘Sturm und Drang’ series and in concert at Cadogan Hall in London.
2021 Winner
2020-24 ENSEMBLE MEMBER
2020 Luminarts Fellow
A former member of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Ms. Pogorelc was seen as Masha in Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades, Noémie in Massenet’s Cendrillon and die Schleppträgerin in Strauss’s Elektra.
Before joining Ryan Opera Center, Ms. Pogorelc made her Washington National Opera and Kennedy Center debut, portraying Cunégonde to great acclaim in Francesca Zambello’s production of Bernstein’s Candide. She also sang Romilda in Handel’s Xerxes, Johanna in Sweeney Todd and Berenice in an English translation of Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro at the Glimmerglass Festival.
Ms. Pogorelc sang in the New York premiere of Charlie Parker’s Yardbird as Chan Parker. The collaboration between Opera Philadelphia and the Apollo Theatre was especially significant as it was the first opera performed at the historic Apollo Theatre in Harlem. Additionally, it was broadcast on New York City’s classical music station, 105.9 WQXR (distributed nationally by the WFMT Radio Network).
Off the operatic stage, Ms. Pogorelc appeared with Madison Symphony Orchestra (Mater Gloriosa in Mahler 8/ “Symphony of a Thousand”), New Jersey Symphony (soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem) and Curtis Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall (soloist for Luciano Berio’s Sinfonia).
“Soprano Emily Pogorelc‘s instrument seemed to grow more penetrating as it ascended into the upper extension, while never losing beauty of tone; and the coloratura was both legato and precisely articulated, with phrase lengths that made me sympathetically gasp for air… Pogorelc is demonstrating mastery of her instrument and maturity in her stagecraft that belie her youth.”
Oliver Camacho, Vocal Arts Chicago
Ms Pogorelc was a prize winner in the 2021 Operalia Competition at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. At the inaugural Glyndebourne Opera Cup, Ms. Pogorelc was the youngest finalist and the recipient of The Ginette Theano Prize for Most Promising Talent. The competition was featured as part of the Sky Arts series, broadcast all over Europe and in the United States on Medici. She was a previous recipient of the Lynne Cooper Harvey Foundation Award from the Musicians Club of Women and the 2020 Luminarts Classical Voice Fellowship.
Ms Pogorelc is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and has participated in residencies at Aix-en-Provence Festival (Mozart Académie) and the Britten–Pears Young Artist Programme at Snape Maltings, in conjunction with the Aldeburgh Festival (Singing Britten Residency).
Ms. Pogorelc is a proud native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Previous Awards
- Carolyn Bailey and Dominick Argento Vocal Competition | 1st Prize
- Hal Leonard Art Song Competition | 1st Place
- Gerda Lissner/Liederkranz Foundation’s Lieder/Art Song competition | Grant Recipient
- Opera Index Emerging Artist Award | Recipient
- Classical Singer Magazine Competition | 1st Place
- Schmidt Competition | 1st Place
- Wisconsin Conservatory of Music Art Song Festival | 1st Place
- NFAA YoungArts (Gold Award in Classical Voice division) | 2014 Gold Award winner
- National Public Radio’s “From the Top” | Featured in June 2014