Rising American soprano Emily Pogorelc is considered as one of the most gifted singers of her generation and is praised by critics and audience alike for her soaring, unique voice and her captivating stage presence. An alumni of Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Emily Pogorelc is currently a member of the ensemble at Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper where she made a celebrated debut as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro during the 2021 summer opera festival. In the 2022/23 season, Emily Pogorelc starts on the concert stage performing at the Unicredit September Festival of the Munich Bayerische Staatsoper. Together with Rolando Villazón, she sings 2 concerts in Bad Wörishofen at the Festival der Nationen and in Prague at the Dvorak Hall. Being a member of the ensemble at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, she can be heard as 4th Maidservant in Elektra, as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, as Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, as Sister Constance in Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites and as the title role in Lotte van den Berg’s production of Toshio Hosokawa Matsukaze, among other roles. Other opera productions take her to the Florentine Opera in Milwaukee (U.S.A.) for the role of Juliette in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, to the Royal Theatre Carré in Amsterdam for Marina Abramovic’s 7 Deaths of Maria Callas and to Bergen (Norway) for Parsifal in concert (Viertes Blumenmädchen). She performs a solo gala concert with the Orquesta Iberacademy Medellín under the baton of Alejandro Posada at the Mozart Week in Salzburg and has her debut at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. performing a recital together with pianist Christopher Reynolds.
Previous season, Emily Pogorelc sang in Munich the role of Adina in L’elisir d’amore, Musetta in La bohème, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Sofia in Il signor Bruschino, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Ein Liebespaar/Suor Genovieffa/Lauretta in Il Trittico and made her Glyndebourne Festival debut as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro. In concert, she performed Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Betrand de Billy and a program ofarias written and heard by Mozart in 1771 with Classical Opera in London. Together with Rolando Villazón, she sang a concert in Passau (Germany) at the Europäische Wochen. Emily Pogorelc also appeared as soloist in a Baroque concert presentation, Violetta Valéry in Marina Abramović’s 7 Deaths of Maria Callas and Zaunschlüpfer in Walter Braunfels’ Die Vögel.
Cancellations resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic include Marzelline in Fidelio and Nannetta in Falstaff with the Bayerische Staatsoper, Servilia in La clemenza di Tito with Bergen National Opera in Norway, and her Glyndebourne Festival debut.
During her time as a member of the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, she performed as Masha in Queen of Spades, Noémie in Cendrillon, and the Trainbearer in Elektra. Additionally, she covered Ilia in Idomeneo, Dalinda in Ariodante, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Forest Bird in Wagner’s Siegfried, and Woglinde in both Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung. She also performed in scenes from La fille du régiment and Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, in partnership with the Ryan Opera Center. Other engagements included recitals with Chamber Music at Bethany and Florentine Opera. In her debut at Washington National Opera and the Kennedy Center, the young soprano portrayed Cunégonde in Francesca Zambello’s production of Candide to great critical acclaim. At the Glimmerglass Festival, she has starred as Romilda in Handel’s Xerxes, Johanna Barker in Sweeney Todd, and Berenice in Rossini’s L’ occasione fa il ladro, while covering Laurey in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! During her time at the Curtis Institute of Music, Emily Pogorelc performed as Lisette in La Rondine, Lucia in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, Le Feu in Ravel ’ s L’enfant et les sortilèges, Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro, and Musetta in La bohéme. She has also participated in residencies at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence (Mozart Académie) and the Britten–Pears Young Artist Programme at Snape Maltings, in conjunction with the Aldeburgh Festival (Singing Britten Residency). In concert, Ms. Pogorelc has performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra as Mater Gloriosa in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and separately in their holiday season concert, the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the New Jersey Symphony, the soprano soloist in Faure’s Requiem with the Fox Valley Orchestra, and the soprano soloist in Richard Hynson’s Evensong with the Bel Canto Chorus of Milwaukee. She was also a soloist for Luciano Berio’s Sinfonia with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra and Ludovic Morlot, which traveled to Carnegie Hall. Emily Pogorelc is passionate about performing new works. In 2016, she made her debut with Opera Philadelphia in Daniel Schnyder’s Charlie Parker’s Yardbird, singing Chan Parker in the opera’s New York premiere. It was the first opera to be performed at the historic Apollo Theatre in Harlem and was broadcast on New York City’s classical music station, 105.9FM WQXR (distributed nationally by the WFMT Radio Network). Ms. Pogorelc also participated in Opera Philadelphia’s Double Exposure project, portraying the title role in David Hertzberg’s The Rose Elf, and performed in a masterclass with Dawn Upshaw as part of Opera Philadelphia’s Composer-in-Residence program, singing an aria from Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrick’s opera, Breaking The Waves. Committed to the tradition of art song, the soprano performed at the Chicago Cultural Center with pianist Madeline Slettedahl and cellist Sonia Mantell in conjunction with the Musicians Club of Women in their 2019-2020 recital series. She has performed in recital at the Curtis Institute of Music, Chamber Music at Bethany, and Chautauqua Institution, and was selected as a competitor at the 2019 Wigmore Hall/Independent Opera International Song Competition with pianist Chris Reynolds. She has also appeared in recital on the WFMT Ryan Opera Center recital series. 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. In the previous season, she was a semi-finalist in the 2019 Queen Sonja International Music Competition, receiving the honor of performing for Queen Sonja of Norway. She was also awarded the Lynne Cooper Harvey Foundation Award from the Musicians Club of Women and the 2020 Luminarts Classical Voice Fellowship.
Previously, she received first prize in The Carolyn Bailey and Dominick Argento Vocal Competition, first place in the Hal Leonard Art Song Competition, a grant from the Gerda Lissner/Liederkranz Foundation’s Lieder/Art Song competition, and an Emerging Artist Award from Opera Index. She took second place in the Upper-Midwest Region of the 2017 Metropolitan National Opera Council Auditions. In addition, she has won first place in numerous other competitions, including Classical Singer Magazine Competition, The Schmidt Competition, The American Prize,and the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music Art Song Festival. She is the 2014 Gold Award winner in the Classical Voice division at NFAA YoungArts and in June 2014 was featured on National Public Radio’s From the Top. In October 2021, she received the third prize for best female singer of the Operalia Competition 2021 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
Ms. Pogorelc is a proud native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
