American soprano Deanna Breiwick, hailed by The New York Times for her “sweet sound and floating high notes” and for being a “vocal trapeze artist,” is enjoying an exciting and diverse career. In the 2020-2021 season, Ms. Breiwick debuts at Dallas Opera as Claude in the world premiere of Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer’s adaptation of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, conducted by Emmanuel Villaume and directed by Leonard Foglia. She also returns to the Metropolitan Opera as Servant #1 in Die Frau ohne Schatten, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In Europe, Ms. Breiwicks debut with the Wexford Festival as Perdita in Karl Goldmark’s Ein Wintermärchen, and make her house and role debut at Opéra di Dijon as Bradamante and Pittura in Luigi Rossi’s Il Palazzo Incantato, conducted by Leonardo García Alarcón.
Ms. Breiwick’s 2019-2020 season included a return to Opernhaus Zürich in the title role of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Coraline, a debut with Opéra de Monte-Carlo as Isolier in Le comte Ory opposite Cecilia Bartoli, and a return to Opera Theatre of St. Louis as Adele in Die Fledermaus. Orchestral highlights included a return to the San Antonio Symphony for Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and a debut with the Detroit Symphony and United States Naval Academy for Handel’s Messiah.
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In the 2018-2019 season, Ms. Breiwick returned to the Metropolitan Opera as a Shadow in the North American premiere of Nico Muhly’s Marnie, conducted by Robert Spano. She also made her house debut at Michigan Opera Theatre as Gretel in Hansel und Gretel and Rosasharn in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath, her house debut at the Berkshire Opera Festival as Norina in Don Pasquale, her role debut as Adina in L’elisir d’amore at Opera Omaha, and her role debut as Cunegonde in Candide in a return to Des Moines Metro Opera.
During the 2017-2018 season, Ms. Breiwick returned to Opernhaus Zürich, performing Drusilla in L’incoronazione di Poppea. She also made her Metropolitan Opera stage debut, first as La Charmeuse in Thaïs, and then as a Flower Maiden in Parsifal, a new production conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and her debut at Opera Philadelphia as Aveline Mortimer in Kevin Puts’ Elizabeth Cree. In concert, she sang the Messiah in debuts with both the Seattle Symphony and New Choral Society in Scarsdale, NY, Orff’s Carmina Burana in a joint project with the Charleston Symphony and Nashville Ballet, then again with the El Paso Choral Society, and finally the Israelite Woman in Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus with the International Handel Festival in Göttingen, Germany. Ms. Breiwick also presented solo recitals in El Paso, Texas and Chicago, Illinois, the latter with close collaborator Julie Coucheron.
As an Ensemble member at Opernhaus Zürich, Ms. Breiwick performed a variety of roles: Carolina (Il matrimonio segreto), Elisa (Il Re Pastore), Marzelline (Fidelio), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), and Frauke Beeke Hansen in the world premiere of Das Gespenst von Canterville. Roles during the 2015-2016 season included Madame Silberklang (Der Schauspieldirektor), Adelaide (The Enchanted Pig), a Shepherdess and Amor (King Arthur), and Dorinda (Orlando). She later returned in the winter of 2016 as Dorothy in Pierangelo Valtinoni’s Der Zauberer von Oz (The Wizard of Oz).
Other career highlights include performances at Des Moines Metro Opera as Nannetta in Falstaff, at Opera Theatre of St. Louis as Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Johanna in Sweeney Todd, and Rosasharn, Gilda Rigoletto at Palm Beach Opera, Despina in Così fan tutte at Opera Omaha, and Clizia in Handel’s Teseo at Chicago Opera Theatre. She covered the role of Ariel at the Metropolitan Opera in the premiere of The Enchanted Island and was a featured soloist in the company’s Summer Recital Series. Additionally, she performed Norina Sophie Scholl in the American premiere of Peter Maxwell Davies’ Kommilitonen!, and Thérese in Poulenc’s Les mamelles de Tirésias at Juilliared Opera, and made her Zankel Hall debut singing the title role of Mozart’s Zaide under the direction of David Robertson. As a fellow with the Aspen Music Festival, she sang Nannetta and was the soprano soloist in Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and as a fellow with the Tanglewood Music Center she sang Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos.
Deanna Breiwick is a Metropolitan Opera National Council Grand Finalist, a Grand Prize Winner of the Sullivan Foundation Vocal Competition, and a First Prize Winner of the Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition. She also holds awards from the George London Foundation, the Giulio Gari Foundation, the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, and the Richard F. Gold Career Grant. Ms. Breiwick is a native of Seattle, WAthe and holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Mannes College of Music.
