Amber Wagner (born June 1, 1980) an American

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

who has performed internationally to critical acclaim. She has often performed in the operas of composer

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

and

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

Early life and education

Born in Santa Barbara, California but raised in Hillsboro, Oregon, both her parents were musicians and were active in the musical community while she was growing up. She began her opera journey when she auditioned for an on-campus vocal ensemble at

Grand Canyon University Grand Canyon University (GCU) is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona. The university offers degrees in over 200 areas of study and is administrativel ...

. Originally an intended sociology major, she auditioned for Dr. Sheila Corley in hopes of earning scholarship money and was quickly encouraged to switch her major to music.

Career

In 2007, Wagner was accepted as one of six to the prestigious Metropolitan National Council Auditions and was consequently featured in the documentary ''The Audition''.

2014-2015

Wagner debuted at the

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is an American opera company based in Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox (Chicago opera), Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, w ...

as Leonora in Verdi's '' Il Trovatore'' as well as Elizabeth in Richard Wagner's

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; ), often stylized "The Tannhäuser", was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1265. His name ...

. She also debuted with the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toron ...

, L'Orchestre Philharmonique de Nice, and the

Houston Symphony Orchestra The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. History The first concert of what was to become the Houston Symphony took place on June 21, 1 ...

. Wagner performed with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco in an all-Richard Wagner program, the

Russian National Orchestra The Russian National Orchestra () was founded in Moscow in 1990 by pianist and conductor Mikhail Pletnev. It was the first Russian orchestra to perform at the Apostolic Palace, Vatican City and in Israel. History The RNO's first recording (1991 ...

in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 at the Napa Valley Festival del Sole, and as Senta in a performance with the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia F ...

during the

Ravinia Festival Ravinia Festival is a primarily outdoor music venue in Highland Park, Illinois. It hosts a series of outdoor concerts and performances every summer from June to September in a wide variety of musical genres from classical to pop. The first orche ...

2015-2016

Wagner debuted at the

Bayerische Staatsoper The Bavarian State Opera () is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bavarian State Orchestra. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Ele ...

in the role of

Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's ...

, a role which she reprised later that season at the

Minnesota Opera Minnesota Opera is a performance organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was founded as the Center Opera Company in 1963 by the Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill ...

and

Palm Beach Opera Palm Beach Opera, a professional opera company in West Palm Beach, Florida performs at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts as well as other locations throughout South Florida, was founded in 1961 as "Civic Opera of the Palm Beaches." Over its ...

. She took the role of Senta and Sieglande in the Oper Frankfurt, Verdi's

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, as well as a selection of the music of Richard Wagner with the

Minnesota Orchestra The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded originally as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra plays most of its concerts at Minneapolis's Orchestra Hall. History Th ...

. Additionally, she performed a selection of Strauss Lieder and Mahler's Symphony No. 4 with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco. She also performed alongside mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton at the Tucson Desert Song Festival and

Arizona Opera Arizona Opera is an opera company which operates in both Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. History Arizona Opera was established in 1971 as the Tucson Opera Company, under founding general director James P. Sullivan, and presented i ...

2017-2018

Wagner debuted in Australia in the role of Sieglande as well as taking the role of Senta in Richard Wagner's The Flying Dutchman at

The Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred to colloquially as the Met, the company i ...

. She reprised the role of Sieglinde in Richard Wagner's ''

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86B, is the second of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was ...

'' at the 2017 Edinburgh Festival, and returned to the Lyric Opera of Chicago, taking the role of Turandot which she had previously performed with the

Vancouver Opera Vancouver Opera is the second largest performing arts organization in British Columbia and the largest opera company in western Canada. Its mainstage performances occur in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, other venues in Vancouver and occasionally el ...

. With Opera Australia, she debuted as

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is a tragic opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 De ...

, reprised the role of Senta in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

with the

Accademia di Santa Cecilia The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia () is one of the oldest musical institutions in the world, founded by the papal bull ''Ratione congruit'', issued by Sixtus V in 1585, which invoked two saints prominent in Western musical history: Greg ...

as well as the National RAI Symphony Orchestra. She also performed Verdi's Requiem with the Oregon Symphony.

2018-2019

Wagner took the role of Giorgetta in Puccini's

Il Tabarro ''Il tabarro'' (''The Cloak'') is an opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, based on 's play ''La houppelande''. It is the first of the trio of operas known as ''Il trittico''. The first performance was given ...

Turandot ''Turandot'' ( ; see #Origin and pronunciation of the name, below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Puccini left the opera unfinished at the time of his death in 1924; it ...

with

Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, New South Wales, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with t ...

, and Sieglinde in a performance of Wagner's

with

Oper Frankfurt The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Schreker's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, ''Fennimore and Gerda, Fennimore ...

as well as at a

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue and Music festival, festival in the towns of Lenox, Massachusetts, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony ...

performance which was met with critical acclaim.

2020-

In the summer of 2022, Wagner took the role of Ruth in ''The Pirates of Penzance'' with the

Cincinnati Opera Cincinnati Opera is an American opera company based in Cincinnati, Ohio and the second-oldest opera company in the United States (after the New York Metropolitan Opera). Beginning with its first season in 1920, Cincinnati Opera has produced opera ...

as well as took the role of Brangäne in Richard Wagner's ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is a music drama in three acts by Richard Wagner set to a German libretto by the composer, loosely based on the medieval 12th-century romance ''Tristan and Iseult'' by Gottfried von Stras ...

'' in the fall of 2022 with the Seattle Opera. In the winter she performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra featuring Act 3 of ''

.'' In March 2023 she performed as Alice in ''

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

'' with the Palm Beach Opera.

Awards

* Finalist of the

Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition (formerly the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions) is an annual singing competition sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera. Established in 1954, its purpose is to discover, assist ...

* Winner of the Liederkranz Foundation Competition * Winner of the Richard Tucker Career Grant Award * Winner of the Kirsten Flagstad Award from the George London Foundation * Recipient of Sullivan Foundation Career Grant * First place winner of the Palm Beach Opera and Palm Springs Opera Competitions * Winner of the Lynne Harvey Scholarship of the Musicians Club of Women * Winner of the Union League Civics and Arts Foundation Competition

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Amber 1980 births Wikipedia Student Program American operatic sopranos Living people 21st-century American women opera singers Year of birth missing (living people) Musicians from Hillsboro, Oregon Singers from Oregon