Resident Artists
Michelle Johnson, soprano
AVA fourth-year resident artist
Hometown: Pearland, Texas
Education: B. M. in Vocal Performance, New England Conservatory of Music; Boston University Opera Institute, Opera Training Certificate.
Competitions: Top Prize and Grant Winner, William Matheus Sullivan Foundation; Second Place and Audience Favorite, Giargiari Bel Canto Competition, 2011; First Place, Giargiari Bel Canto Competition - WRTI broadcast radio online poll, 2011; Grand Prize Winner, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, 2011; Grant, Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Vocal Competition, 2011; First Prize, Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, 2011; First Place, The Marian Anderson Historical Society Scholars Competition, 2011; Encouragement Award, George London Foundation Vocal Competition, 2011; Second Place, Giargiari Bel Canto Competition, 2009; Encouragement Award, Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, 2009; Finalist, Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition, 2007; Encouragement Award, Marilyn Horne Foundation, 2007; Encouragement Award, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (New England), 2007; Jan de Gaetani Award, Orpheus National Vocal Competition, 2006.
Roles at AVA: Giulietta, Les Contes d'Hoffmann; Donna Anna, Don Giovanni; title role, Suor Angelica; Mistress Crane,The Scarlet Letter; Countess, Capriccio; Leonora, Il trovatore; Alice Ford, Falstaff; Silvana, La Fiamma.
Other Roles: Cressida (cover), Troilus and Cressida, Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Monisha, Treemonisha, Opera Providence; Soprano, Enchantment of Dreams, Anna Karenina (cover), Anna Karenina, both with Opera Theatre of St. Louis; Lady with Cakebox, Postcard from Morocco, The Moon, Before Night Falls, Donna Elvira, Don Giovanni and Angèle, Tsar Has His Photograph, all with Opera Institute, Boston; Naked Virgin, Moses und Aron, Boston Symphony Orchestra; Corinna (cover), Il viaggio a reims, Music Academy of the West; Countess, Le nozze di Figaro, L’Orchestra da Camera; Miss Jessel, The Turn of the Screw, all with the New England Conservatory. Participant in International Institute of Vocal Arts, Chiari, Italy; Tanglewood Music Center; Music Academy of the West; V.O.I.C.Experience; Opera Theatre of St. Louis Young Artist Program; Opera Tampa Young Artist Program.
Upcoming: title role, Aida, Glimmerglass Opera, 2012; Leonora, Il trovatore, Opera in the Heights, 2012; Verdi Requiem, Boston University.
