| Robin Johannsen |
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| Biography |
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| 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. Since then, she has appeared regularly in Bayreuth as both the Young Shepherd and the Waldvogel in Siegfried. In 2009/2010 Robin Johannsen 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; 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 De Marchi; Creation with the Dresden Philharmonic under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos; Jauchzet Gott in the Konzerthaus Berlin with the Kammerorchester Berlin; Messiah with the Helsinki Philharmonic under Andreas Spering; Cavalli’s opera Giasone with the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp and Ghent; and La serva padrona with the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music under De Marchi. |
| Robin Johannsen’s engagements for 2008-2009 included 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, release date upcoming). 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); 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. In addition to operatic and orchestral repertoire, Ms. Johannsen has a strong affinity for musical theater and operetta having portrayed many characters including Guenevere in Camelot, Rosabella in Most Happy Fella, Marian in The Music Man, Nellie in South Pacific, and Yum-Yum in The Mikado. |