Robin Johannsen
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Biography
Click here to read Robin Johannsen's
Sound Bite in Opera News Magazine
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.

Robin Johannsen’s future invitations
(2008-2009) include her debut as
Konstanze in
Die Entführung aus dem Serail with the Lucerne Festival,
Festspielhaus St. Pölten, and Theater Freiburg conducted by Attilio
Cremonesi; as well as her debut at the
Komische Oper Berlin singing
the role of Agilea in Handel’s
Teseo under Alessandro De Marchi .  
Upcoming 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.  In the summer
of 2009, she looks forward to a debut at the
Oregon Bach Festival and a German tour with Helmuth Rilling.

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, release date TBA 2008), as
well as three Telemann cantatas under the direction of Martin Haselböck, (CD – NCA, release date TBA 2008).  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.