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Risa Renae Harman, soprano

American soprano Risa Renae Harman has been acclaimed for her technical virtuosity and communication skills as an artist. As a winner of the American Jenny Lind Competition, she made a concert tour of Sweden and appeared with Elisabeth Söderström in a gala benefit concert honoring Jenny Lind's birthday. She is also a recent career grant recipient from the Lee Schaenen Foundation and a winner of the Lotte Lehmann Cybersing Competition, French Melodie.

Miss Harman’s 2004-2005 engagements include concerts as Adele in Die Fledermaus with the Owensboro Symphony, a return recital in Naples, Florida and a return engagement as Artist-in-Residence with the Bay View Music Festival. During the 2003-04 season Miss Harman continued her collaboration with the New York City Opera Education Outreach singing Norina in Don Pasquale and sang recitals in Naples, Florida and at Georgia College and State University as well as creating the role of Electric Shock in the world premiere of the new children’s opera Blackout by Roberto Scarcella. Miss Harman’s 2002-03 schedule included her debut with the Cathedral Choral Society in an all-Baroque program at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. for which The Washington Post described her voice as “luminous” and “outstanding,” an Opera Gala evening with Hat City Music in Connecticut and took turns as Gretel for New York City Opera’s Education Outreach Program. The Cincinnati Enquirer observed that she “was a playful Zerbinetta with a big coloratura” in her debut in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos with the Sorg Opera in Ohio. Her debut as Adele in Die Fledermaus with Lyric Opera of Cleveland prompted The Cleveland Plain Dealer to remark that she “sparked the action with her vivid portrayal of Adele.”

Among Miss Harman’s recent engagements was a solo recital for the Trinity Church Concert Series in downtown New York. The New York Times proclaimed, “But she is that rare creature among singers, a really good recitalist…she seemed to have something to say in all five languages she was singing in.” She also substituted on short notice for an ailing Maureen O’Flynn for the 2001 season-opening Gala for the Johnstown Symphony singing operatic favorites with tenor William Joyner.

On the operatic stage, Miss Harman has sung The Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte with Tri-Cities Opera in Binghamton, as well as the title roles in Lucia di Lammermoor and Massenet’s Manon, and Micaela in Carmen. She has several operatic world premieres to her credit, including creating the roles of the Fair Witch in The Witch Boy by Tim Lloyd, and Louise in William Schuman's A Question of Taste for Glimmerglass Opera, a portrayal The Wall Street Journal called "exciting.”

Miss Harman toured North America with the New York City Opera National Company, and during the 1997-98 season joined the roster of the New York City Opera for Paul Bunyan. Performing with the New York City Opera Educational Outreach Division, her roles have included Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Clorinda in La Cenerentola and Ma_enka in The Bartered Bride. Other New York engagements have included Una Fanciulla in I Cavalieri di Ekebù with Teatro Grattacielo at Alice Tully Hall, with whom she also essayed the role of Vivetta in L’arlesiana. She also collaborates regularly with the prestigious New York Festival of Song, appearing in their 10th Anniversary Gala at the 92nd Street Y and at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in a concert featuring her performance in the original version of Zerbinetta's aria from Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos.

Equally at home on the concert stage, she has appeared as soloist at the Kennedy Center, with the Beethoven Society of New York, Orchestra New England, Greater Lansing Symphony, and the Bridgeport Symphony, among others. Her programs have included Händel’s Messiah, Orff’s Carmina Burana and Mozart's Exultate, jubilate!. In recital, Miss Harman has concertized throughout the eastern United States, Sweden and Austria where she earned a Diploma with Distinction from the Franz Schubert Institute. In New York, she was engaged as soloist with the National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall in The Messiah, performed a Liederabend for the Liederkranz Foundation, and an evening of Italian songs and arias for the Italian Cultural Institute at the Landon Gallery. Additional appearances include concerts for the Moab Music Festival in Utah and Carmina Burana with the Westchester Symphony under the baton of Maestro Anthony Aibel. Her international credits include the Italian Festivals Da Bach a Bartok and Musica nei Chiostri, as well as an Opera Gala with Orchestra ProArte Marche singing excerpts from Lucia di Lammermoor and Rigoletto. An Artist-in-Residence at the Bay View Music Festival in Michigan for the past several seasons, her performances have included Broadway and Opera favorites, and recitals that boasted such highlights as Mozart’s Exultate, jubilate!, Schubert’s Der Hirt auf dem Felsen and Bach’s Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen.

A native of Richmond, Virginia, Miss Harman received an Artist Diploma in Opera from the Hartt School of Music. Miss Harman is the recipient of numerous awards and career grants, including the Lee Schaenen Foundation, the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, Sullivan Foundation, Shoshana Foundation, Palm Beach Opera, Lola Hayes Foundation, Liederkranz Foundation, YWCA Studio Club, Washington International and the D'Angelo Vocal Competition.