Guest ArtistsJoélle Harvey, soprano
A native of Bolivar, New York, 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 works of Gustav Mahler figure substantially in Ms. Harvey’s 2018-19 season engagements. She returns to the Cleveland Orchestra as the soprano soloist in his Second Symphony, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst and performed in Cleveland and on tour to several venues. She also performs the work for her debut with the Toronto Symphony, in performances led by Juanjo Mena. With the San Diego Symphony, she will reunite with conductor Edo de Waart for Mahler’s Fourth Symphony on a program also featuring Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, while Mahler’s Eighth Symphony will be the vehicle for her return to the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl, singing the Mater Gloriosa in performances conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. Also during the season she will be presented by Carnegie Hall in recital with pianist Allen Perriello, as part of the “Great Singers: Evenings of Song” series; the duo will present the same program in an appearance with the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago directly before their appearance in New York.
The season also promises appearances with the New York Philharmonic (Mozart’s Requiem), Utah Symphony (Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony), Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (Bach St. John Passion), North Carolina Symphony (Mozart arias and Mass in C minor), Indianapolis Symphony (Bruckner Te deum), Music of the Baroque (Bach Coffee Cantata), and Handel and Haydn Society (Mozart’s Requiem). With the British ensemble Arcangelo, Ms. Harvey will tour several U.S. cities, in performances with Artistic Director Jonathan Cohen.
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 Le nozze di 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 Eighth Symphony.
Ms. Harvey received Second Prize in Houston Grand Opera’s 2008 Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers. She is a recipient of the Shoshana Foundation’s 2007 Richard F. Gold Career Grant, and was also presented with the John Alexander Memorial Award and the coveted Sam Adams Award for Achievement in Acting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM).
Ms. Harvey received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in vocal performance from CCM, where she performed the roles of Amor in Cavalli’s L’Egisto, Emmie and Flora in, respectively, Britten’s Albert Herring and The Turn of the Screw, Poppea in L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Sophie in Massenet’s Werther and Nannetta in Falstaff.