International artists | Individual attention

Olivia Vote

Mezzo-soprano

“In her company debut, mezzo-soprano Olivia Vote was excellent as the bespectacled Composer, who was the picture of frustration and despair at having his work destroyed by a bunch of silly comedians. Vote’s heartfelt aria in praise of music was filled with passion and soared effortlessly over the lush orchestra.”
– Janelle Gelfland, Cincinnati Business Courier

“As Donna Elvira, Olivia Vote… using her sizable mezzo to electric effect throughout… her passionate delivery lit up the stage.”
– Opera News

Samuel Ramey, Bass

Olivia Vote

Mezzo-soprano
Samuel Ramey, Bass

Olivia Vote

Mezzo-soprano

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.

Read more...

Prior to beginning her time in Zürich, Ms. Vote participated as a Filene Young Artist with the Wolf Trap Opera Company. There she gained critical acclaim for her portrayal of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni directed by Tomer Zvulum. She also covered the same role for the Los Angeles Philharmonic earlier that spring. 

As a frequent concert artist, Ms. Vote was hailed by the Washington Post for “her big, rich voice that explored the nuances of the poetry.” Olivia has appeared as soloist in such works as Verdi’s Requiem, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Beethoven’s Mass in C Major, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and Das Lied von der Erde, and Ravel’s Sheherazade. She sang Schubert’s Mass in E flat with Ivor Bolton and the Rai National Symphony Orchestra in Torino, Italy. 

An eager and passionate fan of modern music. Olivia has premiered several new roles and works. With the 21st Century Consort at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., she performed “Colors passing though us”, a chamber work written specifically for her by composer and friend David Froom. While at Opernhaus Zurich she created the role of Mary Hawkins in Frank Schwemmer’s Die Schatzinsel and at AVA she sang the world premiere of Margaret Garwood’s The Scarlet Letter as Hester Prynne. 

In competition Ms. Vote has been a grand finalist in the Francesco Vinas Competition in Barcelona. She won second place in the Loren L. Zachary Society Competition, Alfredo Silipigni International Vocal Competition, and Gerda Lisner Foundation International Competition. She is a grant winner from the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, has been a New England and Mid Atlantic regional finalist and study grant recipient in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, was awarded a Sullivan Foundation Development Grant, and the Phyllis Curtin Career Award from Yale University.

Contact

General Management
Jeffrey Larson
Founder/President
o: +1 (212) 419-2986
m: +1 (917) 225-5894

Brittany Duncan
Senior Artist Manager

Christopher Carbin
Artist Manager
o: +1 (212) 419-2986
m: +1 (405) 615-7720

Share This

Share this post with your friends!