From: Bolivar, New York. LA Opera: soloist in the Digital Short Between the Rooms (2021).
Soprano Joélle Harvey has quickly established herself as a noted interpreter of a broad range of repertoire, specializing in Handel, Mozart, and new music. She is the recipient of a 2011 First Prize Award from the Gerda Lissner Foundation, a 2009 Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation, and a 2010 Encouragement Award (in honor of Norma Newton) from the George London Foundation.
The 2019/20 season featured important debuts for Ms. Harvey, as she performed Pamina in The Magic Flute with both the Metropolitan Opera and Santa Fe Opera. She returned to the Cleveland Orchestra for Mahler’s 4th Symphony as well as Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, which she also performed with the Handel & Haydn Society. Mahler’s 2nd Symphony featured prominently in the season, for which she returned to both the St. Louis Symphony and the New York Philharmonic, the latter with performances in New York and on tour conducted by Jaap van Zweden. She returned to the San Francisco Symphony for Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem led by Michael Tilson Thomas, and debuted with the Santa Barbara Symphony for Beethoven’s Mass in C. Her season also included appearances with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society for their Emerging Voices series, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for a concert in Alice Tully Hall featuring songs of Schubert, Chausson, and Harbison, and the Cincinnati Symphony for Handel’s Dilirio Amoroso.
The works of Gustav Mahler figured substantially in Ms. Harvey’s 2018/19 season engagements. She returned to the Cleveland Orchestra as the soprano soloist in his 2nd Symphony, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst and performed in Cleveland and on tour. She also performed the work for her debut with the Toronto Symphony, in performances led by Matthew Halls. With the San Diego Symphony, she was reunited with conductor Edo de Waart for Mahler’s 4th Symphony, on a program also featuring Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915. She was also presented by Carnegie Hall in recital with pianist Allen Perriello, as part of the Great Singers: Evenings of Song series. With the British ensemble Arcangelo, Ms. Harvey toured several U.S. cities, in performances with Artistic Director Jonathan Cohen. In June, she made her mainstage debut with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro. The season also included appearances with the New York Philharmonic (Mozart’s Requiem), Utah Symphony (Beethoven’s 9th Symphony), Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (Bach's St. John Passion), North Carolina Symphony (Mozart arias and Mass in C Minor), Music of the Baroque (Bach' Coffee Cantata), and Handel & Hadyn Society (Mozart’s Requiem).
Ms. Harvey began the 2017/18 season in concert with the Knoxville Symphony, performing Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915. She subsequently made her Pittsburgh Opera debut as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, and joined The English Concert as Almirena in Rinaldo. Further concert appearances included a return to the New York Philharmonic for Handel’s Messiah, and an appearance with the Laguna Music Festival for a concert of music by Brahms and both Clara and Robert Schumann. In the summer of 2018, she returned to the Glyndebourne Festival Opera for her role debut as Cleopatra in Sir David McVicar’s iconic production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare, conducted by William Christie. She also appeared at the BBC Proms as the Mater Gloriosa in Mahler’s 8th Symphony.
In the previous season, Ms. Harvey joined the Milwaukee Symphony as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Pat Nixon in Nixon in China, and returned to the Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Servilia in La Clemenza di Tito, a role which she also performed at the BBC Proms. In concert, she appeared with the Mostly Mozart Festival for Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and his Requiem, which she also sang for the Kansas City Symphony and the Utah Symphony. Additionally, she joined the Cincinnati Symphony for Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, sang Handel’s Messiah with the Handel & Haydn Society and the National Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony for Mahler’s Das klagende Lied, and the London Symphony Orchestra and Concertgebouw for John Adams’ El Niño. She also appeared in concert with the LA Chamber Orchestra and the North Carolina Symphony.
Ms. Harvey’s varied appearances during the 2015/16 season included Michal in Saul with the Handel & Haydn Society and Inès in a concert performance of La Favorite with Washington Concert Opera. She also joined the Indianapolis Symphony, Virginia Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Les Violons du Roy in concert.
During the 2014/15 season, Ms. Harvey’s numerous engagements included repeat appearances as Sicle in Ormindo with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Galatea in Acis and Galatea with the Killkenny Festival, and role debuts as Marzelline in Fidelio with San Francisco Symphony and Anne Trulove in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress with Utah Opera. On the concert stage, she appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra (Bach's B minor Mass), Tafelmusik, Handel & Haydn Society (Messiah and St. Matthew Passion), LA Philharmonic (Missa Solemnis), North Carolina Symphony (Messiah), Dallas Symphony (Mozart Requiem) and the Pygmalion Ensemble (Mozart Mass in C minor).
Ms. Harvey’s 2013/14 season included her debut with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden in London as Sicle in Ormindo, further performances with the Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Serpetta in La Finta Giardiniera, Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore with the Glyndebourne Festival Touring Company, and the Dallas Opera for Miranda in Death and the Powers, as well as appearances on the concert stage with The Handel & Haydn Society (Dalila in Handel’s Samson), New York Philharmonic (Handel’s Messiah), San Francisco Symphony (Beethoven’s Mass in C), Milwaukee Symphony (Schubert’s Mass No. 6) and the Kansas City Symphony (Handel’s Messiah).
During the 2012/13 season, the soprano was engaged to sing Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro on tour with the Glyndebourne Festival and also with Arizona Opera; two appearances with the San Francisco Symphony: Handel’s Messiah, conducted by Ragnar Bohlin, and music from Peer Gynt, conducted by Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas; the role of Tigrane in performances of Radamisto at Carnegie Hall and in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with Harry Bicket and The English Concert; the Mendelssohn and Bach Magnificats for her debut with The New York Philharmonic; and Iphis in a United States tour of Handel’s Jephtha with Harry Christophers and Handel & Haydn Society. She concluded the season in a return to Festival d’Aix-en-Provence for Zerlina in a revival of Dmitri Tcherniakov’s production of Don Giovanni, conducted by Marc Minkowski.
Learn more at JoelleHarvey.com.
