Lauded for her “theatrical magnetism,” American mezzo-soprano Olivia Vote is continuing to garner success across opera and concert stages. Since joining the roster of the Metropolitan Opera in 2018, Olivia has performed a number of roles, including Neris is Medea, Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos, Neferneferuaten in the Grammy-winning recording of Ahknaten, and Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto. In the 2023-24 season, Olivia will make two house debuts, the first at Staatstheater Mainz in the title role of Carmen, and Lithuanian National Opera as the Muse and Nicklausse in Les contes d’Hoffmann. She will also return to Atlanta Opera to perform the role of Maddalena in Rigoletto. 

In the 2022-23, she joined the Las Vegas Symphony for an evening of operatic favorites, before returning to the Metropolitan Opera stage as Zweite Dame in a new production of Die Zauberflöte under the baton of Natalie Stutzmann. Also in the current season, Olivia will be performing with Opera Southwest on a New Years’ Eve Gala, as Dorabella in Così fan tutte with Cedar Rapids Opera, and in a highly anticipated workshop of The Righteous by Gregory Spears and Tracy K. Smith for Santa Fe Opera. 

In previous seasons, Ms. Vote made multiple house debuts including Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos with Cincinnati Opera, Maddalena in Rigoletto with Florentine Opera and North Carolina Opera, Mary in The Flying Dutchman with Atlanta Opera in a new production by Tomer Zvulun, Mère Marie in the Dialogues des Carmélites with Sarasota Opera, Adalgisa in Norma with Opera Southwest, and Nicklausse in Les contes d’Hoffmann with Hawaii Opera Theater. On the concert stage, she has been heard in Rossini’s Stabat Mater and Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody with Washington Choral Arts in D.C. under the baton of Antony Walker, and in Durufle’s Requiem at The Kennedy Center.  In a chamber setting, Olivia has joined the world-renowned Hugo Wolf Quartet from Vienna and performed Respighi’s Il Tramonto and selections from Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch in Massachusetts and New York. She has also collaborated with pianist Brian Ganz to perform multiple song recitals throughout Maryland and Virginia.

Ms. Vote returned to Opernhaus Zürich to sing Dryade in Ariadne auf Naxos with Fabio Luisi and Flora in a new production of La traviata under Maestro Armiliato. She first came to Switzerland from 2012-2014 for the Internationales Opernstudio at Opernhaus Zürich. Highlights of her performances during this period included singing Fidalma in Il Matrimonio Segreto, Philomene in Martinů’s Zweimal Alexandre, and as a soloist in Hans Neuenfels’s new production Wie ich Welt wurde, a co-production with the Zürich Shauspielhaus about the life of Richard Wagner. In addition, she performed roles in Rinaldo, La traviata, Meistersinger, Salome, and Rigoletto and covered roles in Madame Butterfly, Alcina, La Straniera, and Falstaff.

Passionate about new works Olivia has enjoyed working with Santa Fe Opera and Opera Philadelphia on Jennifer Higdon’s exciting premiere of Cold Mountain. Also with Santa Fe Opera, she participated in the workshop of the premiere of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs by Mason Bates and Mark Campbell in San Francisco. She sang the role of his wife, Laurene Powell. While at the Academy of Vocal Arts Ms. Vote co-created the title role of Hester Pryne in The Scarlet Letter by Margaret Garwood and premiered the work Colors Passing Through Us by teacher and composer David Froom.

Prior to beginning her time in Zürich, Ms. Vote participated as a Filene Young Artist with the Wolf Trap Opera Company. Vote completed her musical studies at Yale University, North Carolina School for the Arts, and the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.