From: New York City, New York. LA Opera: Ghita in The Dwarf (2024, debut).
Emily Magee is in great demand on the leading opera and concert stages of the world, earning her recognition as one of the most important voices of her generation. Her sumptuous, radiant voice and intelligent, attractive stage presence have won her acclaim in a wide variety of roles, particularly those of Richard Strauss and Wagner, alongside roles of Puccini, Verdi, Janaček, Britten and others. The American soprano has appeared on opera and concert stages throughout the world under the direction of such conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Christian Thielemann, Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Claudio Abbado, Antonio Pappano, Franz Welser-Möst, Donald Runnicles, Simon Rattle, Sir Andrew Davis, Semyon Bychkov, and Christoph von Dohnanyi. In addition to performances at the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden, La Scala and the opera houses of Zürich, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Chicago and San Francisco, Emily has appeared at Europe's finest summer festivals including Salzburg, Bayreuth and Lucerne.
Critically acclaimed for her interpretation of Strauss's complex and wide ranging heroines, alongside those of Wagner and Puccini, Emily's celebrated portrayal of the Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten has taken her to some of the world's most famed houses: La Scala, Tokyo, Hamburg, Zürich and, most recently, the Royal Opera House. It has become one of her signature roles, alongside Ariadne, which she has sung in Zürich, at the Salzburg Festival, at the Semperoper Dresden as well as the Bavarian State Opera. She has also triumphed in the roles of Elsa in Lohengrin, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser, and in further roles of Strauss, such as Salome, Arabella, the Countess in Capriccio, and the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier. Recent role debuts include the role of Leonore in Fidelio as well as the heroines of Tosca and The Girl of the Golden West. In recent years, she has also performed in a wide variety of other roles, including Ursula in Mathis der Maler, the title role in Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini, and as Janaček's Jenůfa.
Recent highlights include her Metropolitan Opera debut as the Foreign Princess in Rusalka, and a series of concerts of Strauss's Four Last Songs with the leading orchestras of the day.
