Angel Blue in Concert

Angel Blue has emerged in recent seasons as one of the most influential sopranos before the public today. The two-time Grammy Award winner, 2020 Beverly Sills Award recipient and 2022 Richard Tucker Award winner is celebrated worldwide for her honeyed soprano and affecting deliveries of many of the most beloved roles in the operatic repertory, such as Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata, Bess in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Mimí in Puccini’s La Bohéme, and Destiny/Loneliness/Greta in Terrence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones.

The 2023 spring and summer seasons begin with Angel as Violetta in La Traviata at the Metropolitan Opera with Maestro Nicola Luisotti, and her debut in the titular role in Aida at the Royal Opera House with Sir Mark Elder. She can be seen in concert with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Oskana Lyniv, and in recital with distinguished Canadian pianist Dr. Bryan Wagorn at Arizona Opera. Ms. Blue's first summer appearance begins in Europe on tour with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, under the direction of world-renowned conductor Yannick Nézét-Seguin.

The 2023/24 season introduces audiences to Angel Blue as Leonora in Il Trovatore at the San Francisco Opera, followed by a highly anticipated return to the Vienna State Opera as Tosca. She continues her season with performances as Micaëla in Carmen and a role debut as Magda in La Rondine at the Metropolitan Opera.

On September 23, 2019 she opened the Metropolitan Opera’s 2019/20 season as Bess in a new production of Porgy and Bess. These performances followed her internationally praised French opera debut and role debut as Tosca at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in July of 2019. She has also been recognized for performances in countless other theaters, such as the Vienna State Opera, Semperoper Dresden, Seattle Opera, Theater an der Wien, Teatro alla Scala, Baden-Baden Festspielhaus, Paris Opera, English National Opera and San Diego Opera.

Puccini’s La Bohéme has played an especially prominent role in the development of Angel Blue’s career. She made her United States operatic debut as Musetta at LA Opera in 2007 while a member of the company’s Young Artist Program and subsequently made her debut at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in the same role in 2015. As Mimí, she has earned exceptional international acclaim. Angel first sang the role at the English National Opera in London in 2014 and has since performed Mimí for her house debuts at the Palau de Les Arts in Valencia, the Vienna State Opera, and the Canadian Opera Company, the Semperoper Dresden, Hamburg State Opera and of course, the Metropolitan Opera.

Equally active on the concert platform, Angel has appeared in recital and in concert in over 40 countries including Hungary, Kazakhstan, India, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, South Korea, China, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Brazil and Mexico. In 2011, Angel opened the Royal Opera House, in Muscat, Oman. Orchestral engagements have included concert versions of Porgy and Bess at the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir Simon Rattle and with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Marin Alsop, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Münchener Philharmoniker under the baton of Zubin Mehta, and Verdi’s Requiem in Sydney, Australia with Oleg Caetani. She has also sung Strauss’s Four Last Songs and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Peri in Schumann’s Das Paradis und die Peri with the Accademia Santa Cecilla in Rome, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Cincinnati Symphony under Louis Langree.

During the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, Angel dedicated her time to encourage younger singers to stay motivated to finish their studies and continue in opera, through an online talk show called, Faithful Friday where she interviewed people who she found to be inspiring. The online talk show received much acclaim from its viewers, many called the show, "Uplifting, and exactly what is needed right now." Angel has since shifted her focus back to her family life and her singing engagements. However, she still maintains that encouraging and uplifting younger singers in the opera world is at the forefront of her platform.

Angel Blue was raised in California and completed her musical studies at UCLA. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and son.

Learn more at AngelJoyBlue.com.

Praised for her "attention to orchestral colors" (OperaWire) and ability to create "lightning changes in tempo, meter, and effect" (Boston Musical Intelligencer), Colombian-American Lina González-Granados has distinguished herself nationally and internationally as a talented young conductor of symphonic and operatic repertoire. Her spirited interpretations of the orchestral repertoire, as well as her dedication to highlighting new and unknown works by Latin-American composers, have earned her international recognition, most recently as the recipient of the 2021 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the third prize and ECHO Special Award (European Concert Hall Organization) of La Maestra Competition, and the 2020 and 2021 Solti Foundation US Career Assistance Award.

She was the winner of the Fourth Chicago Symphony Orchestra Sir Georg Solti International Conducting Competition, and became the new Solti Conducting Apprentice under the guidance of Riccardo Muti, beginning in February 2020. She has held positions as Conducting Fellow of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Seattle Symphony.

Her 2021/22 season highlights include returns to the New York Philharmonic and Rochester Philharmonic, as well as debuts with the National Symphony (USA), Ann Arbor Symphony, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Spanish National Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony, Nürnberger Symphoniker, Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Kristiansand Symphony, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Polish National Radio Symphony, Orquesta del Principado de Asturias, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León and Tenerife Symphony.

She will also conduct The Barber of Seville at the Dallas Opera.

Recent appearances include performances with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia, and Filarmónica de Medellín. She has had the opportunity to work with world- renowned artists such as Yefim Bronfman, Pinchas Zukerman, Giancarlo Guerrero, Zubin Mehta, Marin Alsop and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

She is an active and fervent proponent for the inclusion and development of new works for chamber and large orchestra, especially music from Latin-American composers. She is the Artistic Director of Unitas Ensemble, a chamber orchestra she founded that performs the works of Latinx composers, and provides access to free community performances for underserved communities. Her work with Unitas has earned her numerous community awards, most recently a Spark Boston award from the City of Boston. She has also commissioned multiple World, North-American, and American premieres, as well as the creation and release of the Unitas Ensemble album Estaciones, recorded alongside the Latin Grammy-winning Cuarteto Latinoamericano.

Born and raised in Cali, Colombia, Lina González-Granados made her conducting debut in 2008 with the Youth Orchestra of Bellas Artes in Cali. She holds a Master’s Degree in Conducting with Charles Peltz, a Graduate Diploma in Choral Conducting from New England Conservatory with Erica Washburn, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Orchestral Conducting from Boston University. Her principal mentors include Marin Alsop, Bernard Haitink, Bramwell Tovey and Yannick Nézet- Séguin.

Learn more at LinaGonzalezGranados.com.

Read a feature article about her here.

Read the LA Times review of her 2022 LA Philharmonic debut here.

With Roberto Cani as concertmaster, the orchestra has a core roster of 61 players, augmented for each production according to the demands of the music. The LA Opera Orchestra players also fill principal positions in Southern California symphonies and chamber groups and record in Hollywood film, television and recording sessions.