| Robin Johannsen |
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| Future engagements include semi-staged performances of Pergolesi’s La serva padrona and Bach’s Coffee Cantata (Alessandro De Marchi, conductor; Christoph von Bernuth, director) at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music; Adele in a new production of Die Fledermaus at the Staatsoper Stuttgart (Manfred Honeck, conductor; Philipp Stölzl, director); and a staged production of Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten in Rotterdam (Christopher Moulds, conductor; Mirjam Koen and Gerrit Timmers, directors). Upcoming concerts include: John Adams’ El niño in Stuttgart and Basel under Dennis Russell Davies; a tour of Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio under Rilling; and Messiah with the Dallas Symphony also under Rilling. In 2008, Robin Johannsen began her freelance career focusing largely on baroque and classical repertoire. Highlights of the 2008- 2009 season were her debut as Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail with the Lucerne Festival, Festspielhaus St. Pölten, and Theater Freiburg conducted by Attilio Cremonesi and directed by Joachim Schlömer; as well as her debut at the Komische Oper Berlin singing the role of Agilea in Handel’s Teseo under Alessandro De Marchi. Concert highlights include Haydn’s Harmonienmesse with the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart at the Vatican under the direction of Helmuth Rilling; performances of Bach’s Magnificat and Weihnachtsoratorium in Milan and Turin with Alessandro De Marchi; Mahler’s Fourth Symphony and Strauss Lieder with the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt; and Schönberg’s Herzgewächse and Das Buch der Hängenden Gärten with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Engagements for the soprano in the 2007-2008 season included concerts of Handel arias in Dresden and Hamburg broadcast on Deutschlandradio Kultur; Handel’s Messiah with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra; gala New Year’s concerts with the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt; as well as Haydn’s Schöpfung with the same orchestra. Ms. Johannsen was the soprano soloist in Wolfgang Rihm’s Deus Passus with the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart under the direction of Helmuth Rilling, and she made her Italian debut singing concerts of Scarlatti’s Davidis pugna et victoria in Mondovì and Turin with Academia Montis Regalis with Alessandro De Marchi. She recorded Davidis pugna et victoria with Academia Montis Regalis (CD – Hyperion Records, October 2009), as well as three Telemann cantatas under the direction of Martin Haselböck, (CD – NCA/New Classical Adventure, April 2010). In May 2008, she was featured in “Seduction and Despair,” a collaboration between actor John Malkovich and conductor Martin Haselböck in Los Angeles. Additionally, the soprano returned to the Oper Leipzig to sing Pamina and reprised the Waldvogel with the Bayreuther Festspiele. During the 2006-2007 season, Robin Johannsen’s performances included a Lieder recital in Bayreuth; Handel Cantatas with the Bach Consort Wien in the Wiener Musikverein and the Palau de la Musica, Barcelona; a gala concert with the chamber orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin; a new production of Die lustige Witwe with the Oper Leipzig; as well as reprisals in the roles of Blonde and Pamina also at Oper Leipzig. Engagements for the soprano in 2005-2006 included singing Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel; Pamina in Die Zauberflöte; Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro; Marzelline in Fidelio under the musical direction of Herbert Blomstedt; and Blonde in a premiere of Die Entführung aus dem Serail with the Oper Leipzig. She also performed Musetta in La Bohème with the Nationaltheater Mannheim and returned to the Deutsche Oper Berlin as a guest artist singing the role of Amalia in Aribert Reimann’s Das Schloß. Other recent concerts have included an “Evening of Beethoven and Weber” and Handel’s Messiah with the festival Musica Mallorca; concerts of operetta arias and duets with the chamber orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin; and a world premiere of Beat Furrer’s Canti notturni with NDR Hamburg. Additional highlights have included Candide at the Berliner Philharmonie in the role of Paquette (CD – Capriccio 2005); the Gala-Abend 50 Jahre Yad Vashem at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; a benefit concert of Mozart and Donizetti selections at the Konzerthaus Berlin under the baton of Yves Abel; as well as a tour in Kaliningrad, where she sang the role of the Countess in Siegfried Matthus’ Die Weise von Liebe und Tod des Cornets Christoph Rilke. Ms. Johannsen also performed in Mendelssohn’s Sommernachtstraum with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin under the baton of Marek Janowski; and she was featured in the Deutsche Oper’s televised and radio broadcast “9. Festliche Operngala für die AIDS Stiftung” conducted by Christian Thielemann. The Philadelphia-born soprano has been the recipient of many awards and honors. Besides being a winner of a Liederkranz Foundation Award and the Friedrich Schorr Memorial Performance Prize in Voice, she was awarded the Alberto Vilar Scholarship from the American Berlin Opera Foundation and the Franz-Josef-Weisweiler Stipendium from the Deutsche Oper Berlin. In the United States, Robin Johannsen performed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Opera Outreach. She appeared in a gala concert at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center and was featured in several concerts in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. After winning a prize from the Liederkranz Foundation in 2002, she performed the role of Madame Herz in Der Schauspieldirektor with the Liederkranz Society of New York. That season, she also debuted the roles of Adele in Die Fledermaus with the Pine Mountain Music Festival, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with Taconic Opera, and Mlle Jouvenot in Adriana Lecouvrer with the Opera Orchestra of New York. After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Carnegie Mellon University, Ms. Johannsen completed a Masters Degree in Music from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. |
| American soprano Robin Johannsen made her European debut as a Young Artist with the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2002. One year later, she was invited to become a soloist in the Ensemble. Highlights of Ms. Johannsen’s three seasons at the Deutsche Oper Berlin included Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Norina in Don Pasquale, Aljeja in a premiere of Janacek’s Aus einem Totenhaus, the Waldvogel in Siegfried, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, and Constance in Les Dialogues des Carmélites. In 2003 the soprano was invited to make her debut at the Bayreuther Festspiele as the Young Shepherd in Tannhäuser under the musical direction of Christian Thielemann. For the next five seasons, she appeared regularly in Bayreuth as both the Young Shepherd and the Waldvogel in Siegfried and can be heard as the Waldvogel in the Thielemann Ring (CD - Opus Arte, November 2009). In 2009/2010 she opened the Oregon Bach Festival with Haydn’s Creation under Helmuth Rilling’s direction and performed in many of the Festival's concerts including the world premiere of Sven-David Sandström’s Messiah. Other performances for the season include a German tour and CD production with the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart under Rilling (CD – Sven David Sandström’s Messiah, Carus, April 2010); a gala at Festspielhaus St. Pölten under Julia Jones; Les nuits d’éte in the Cologne Philharmonic with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra Warsaw under Lukasz Borowicz; Messiah with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Robert Page; Handel concerts in Torino with Academia Montis Regalis under Alessandro De Marchi; Jauchzet Gott in the Konzerthaus Berlin with the Kammerorchester Berlin; and Messiah with the Helsinki Philharmonic under Andreas Spering. Additionally, Ms. Johannsen made a debut with the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp and Ghent, performing the role of Isifile in Cavalli’s opera Giasone (Federico Maria Sardelli, conductor; Mariame Clement, director). She performed Bach cantatas with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center under Rilling; Handel’s La Resurrezione with the Wiener Akademie under Martin Haselböck; Mozart and Handel at the Tonhalle in Zurich conducted by Howard Griffiths; and Creation with the Dresden Philharmonic under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. |
| American soprano Robin Johannsen made her European debut as a Young Artist with the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2002. One year later, she was invited to become a soloist in the Ensemble. Her roles there included Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Norina in Don Pasquale, Aljeja in Aus einem Totenhaus, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, and Soeur Constance in Les dialogues des Carmélites. In the summer of 2003, she made her debut as the Young Shepherd in Tannhäuser at the Bayreuth Festival, where she continued to appear as the Shepherd and the Forest Bird in Siegfried for the next five seasons. From 2005-2007, the soprano was engaged by the Oper Leipzig, where her roles included Gretel, Marzelline, Blonde, Valencienne, Susanna, and Pamina. In 2008, Robin Johannsen began her freelance career focusing largely on baroque and classical repertoire. Highlights of the 2008/2009 season were her debut as Konstanze in Entführung aus dem Serail with the Freiburger Barockorchester under Attilio Cremonesi at the Lucerne Festival, Festspielhaus St. Pölten and the Theater Freiburg; Agilea in Handel’s Teseo at the Komische Oper Berlin under Alessandro De Marchi; and a featured soprano role in John Malkovich’s and Martin Haselböck’s Seduction and Despair in Los Angeles. In 2009/2010 she opened the Oregon Bach Festival with Haydn’s Creation under Helmuth Rilling’s direction and performed in many concerts including the world premiere of Sven-David Sandström’s Messiah. Other performances for the season included a German tour and CD production with the Internationale Bachakademie under Rilling; Messiah with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Robert Page, concerts in Torino with Academia Montis Regalis under De Marchi; Creation with the Dresden Philharmonic under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos; Jauchzet Gott with the Kammerorchester Berlin; Messiah with the Helsinki Philharmonic under Andreas Spering; and Cavalli’s Giasone with the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp and Ghent. Future engagements include Pergolesi’s La serva padrona and Bach’s Coffee Cantata at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music (Alessandro De Marchi, conductor; Christoph von Bernuth, director); Adele in a new production of Die Fledermaus at the Staatsoper Stuttgart (Manfred Honeck, conductor; Philipp Stölzl, director); and a staged production of Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten in Rotterdam (Christopher Moulds, conductor; Mirjam Koen and Gerrit Timmers, directors). Upcoming concerts: John Adams’ El niño in Stuttgart and Basel under Dennis Russell Davies; a tour of Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio under Rilling; and Messiah with the Dallas Symphony also under Rilling. Robin Johannsen received her BFA in Vocal Performance from Carnegie Mellon University and her Master’s Degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Among her first engagements were gala concerts in Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall as well as operas with the Liederkranz Foundation, Opera Orchestra of New York, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and Cincinnati Opera Outreach. She has sung with numerous additional international orchestras including the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, NDR Hamburg, Deutschland Radio Kultur, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and the Bach Consort Wien at the Wiener Musikverein and the Palau de la Musica (Barcelona). |
| Biography ~ Short Version |