Isabel Leonard is a distinguished mezzo-soprano renowned for her captivating performances and dynamic stage presence. With a rich background in opera, she has garnered acclaim for her portrayal of iconic roles, particularly as Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, where her artistry shone in both past and recent productions. Leonard's upcoming engagements include the role of Angelina in a whimsical rendition of Cinderella, set to enchant audiences with its vibrant storytelling and delightful score by Gioachino Rossini. Additionally, she will participate in the inaugural HGO Family Day performance of Cinderella, aimed at engaging the Houston community through the magic of opera. Leonard's impressive collaborations extend to her recent performances alongside celebrated tenors and a talented ensemble, showcasing her versatility and commitment to the art form. As she prepares for these exciting projects, Isabel Leonard continues to solidify her status as a leading figure in contemporary opera, captivating audiences with her exceptional talent and passion for storytelling through music.

Singer

Houston Grand Opera is proud to announce the company’s first annual HGO Family Day, a special performance of Rossini’s crowd-pleasing Cinderella, on Nov. 9, 2024. The brand-new initiative is part of a slate of HGO programming intended to serve students, families, and the entire Houston community.

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HGO Family Day: Cinderella

Wortham Theater Center

Goodness triumphs in Rossini’s frothy delight, Cinderella, presented in a whimsically bright and colorful production that has enchanted audiences across the globe. In this version of the story, Cinderella’s name is Angelina; she has a wicked stepfather, Don Magnifico; a pair of bracelets replaces the slippers; and a group of hilarious life-size rats does its best to steal the show. But at its charming heart, the tale of a sweet young beauty finding love with her prince remains.

Cinderella

We’re delighted to announce that Andrea Bocelli, one of the finest classical artists of our generation, will be gracing The Great Oak Stage at American Express presents BST Hyde Park 2024 on Friday 5 July for the largest outdoor classical concert of this century!

Andrea Bocelli | BST Hyde Park

Hyde Park

A tale of resistance, courage, and joy: The Sound of Music, whose story begins in the hills of Austria on the eve of the Nazis’ annexation, resonates as much today as during the musical’s 1959 premiere. Acclaimed director Francesca Zambello incorporates songs from both the theatrical version and its famous cinematic adaptation into her new production, a vibrant staging of the beloved story of the von Trapp children, their stern father, and the novice-turned-governess Maria who changes their lives. The Wortham Theater is the perfect place to experience Rodgers and Hammerstein’s original vision for their timeless musical, propelled by the full power of the world-class HGO Orchestra and Chorus and a peerless cast including world-famous mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard as Maria and baritone Alexander Birch Elliott as the Captain. HGO’s Richard Bado takes the podium to conduct this classic family-friendly production. 

The Sound Of Music

Experience the vibrant fusion of jazz and opera with the Washington National Opera's latest production, "Songbird," at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater from March 9 to March 23, 2024. This innovative adaptation of Jacques Offenbach’s "La Périchole" transports audiences to the roaring 1920s in New Orleans, a time of decadence, but also of hardship for singers and lovers Songbird and Piquillo. As Mardi Gras unfolds, the Mayor's tempting offer forces Songbird to choose between financial security and true love.

Featuring Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard and Tony-nominated leading man Ramin Karimloo, "Songbird" promises a captivating blend of operetta and jazz, with toe-tapping music, glamorous costumes, and a storyline filled with mistaken identities and comic twists. The production, adapted by Eric Sean Fogel, James Lowe, and Kelley Rourke, with musical arrangement and orchestration by James Lowe, and English lyrics and book by Kelley Rourke, brings a fresh perspective to Offenbach’s comedic love story, ensuring an unforgettable experience.

Performed in French and English with projected English titles, this new production, commissioned by The Glimmerglass Festival in 2021, showcases the irresistible charm of the classic opéra bouffe with a Frenchman Street flair. Don't miss your chance to be part of this unique musical journey—tickets are available in subscriptions, offering the best seats, maximum flexibility, and exclusive savings. Join us at the Kennedy Center for a performance that infuses the spirit of New Orleans into the heart of opera.

Songbird

Kennedy Center

After a remarkable opening to the concert, in which mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard performs Ravel’s Chansons madécasses, the program shifts to music written for string quartets—and quartets powerfully augmented into quintets. It begins with Justinian Tamusuza’s bright and driving Ekitundu Ekisooka, made world famous by the Kronos Quartet’s chart-topping Pieces of Africa. Two movements follow from James Lee III’s Clarinet Quintet, recently premiered by the Pacifica Quartet and New York Philharmonic principal clarinetist Anthony McGill. Andy Akiho’s exhilarating LIgNEouS 1 features extended technique from string and percussion instruments alike. The program closes with Beach’s potent Piano Quintet, which includes direct references to Brahms’s seminal Piano Quintet.

The Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble

Carnegie Hall

The dashing Count Almaviva is ready to sweep Rosina off her feet and make her his countess—but not if her greedy guardian Doctor Bartolo has anything to say about it. Enter Figaro: barber, valet and the man with a plan to wreak joyful havoc and let true love bloom.

Internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard returns to star as Rosina along with baritone Emmett O’Hanlon as the street-smart matchmaker Figaro. Rossini’s beloved score (filled with delightful earworms) is conducted by Louis Lohraseb, fresh from his triumphant Tosca in 2022. Best of all, experience this colorful comedy in a new-to-Los Angeles production by Tony- and Emmy-winning director and choreographer Rob Ashford. This is one appointment with a barber you don’t want to miss.

The Barber of Seville

Los Angeles Music Center

Celebrate the Philharmonic Society of Orange County's 70th anniversary season at our Opening Night concert! This intimate evening pairs Grammy Award-winner Isabel Leonard, the glamorous mezzo-soprano who has dazzled opera lovers at the great houses worldwide, with Pablo Sáinz-Villegas, praised by Billboard as “the soul of the Spanish guitar,” in a recital featuring popular arias and beloved songs.

Pablo Sainz-Villegas & Isabel Leonard

Segerstrom Center for the Arts

In the heat of the moment, the notorious Don Giovanni (aka Don Juan) murders the father of one of his conquests, unwittingly unleashing an ominous force from beyond the grave that can’t be stopped. Accustomed to getting away with anything and everything, he must now face the music as years of cruelty and debauchery come due.

Grammy Award-winning baritone Lucas Meachem returns as the ill-fated playboy, leading a dazzling ensemble of singers including Craig Colclough, Guanqun Yu and Isabel Leonard. James Conlon, renowned for his astonishing command of Mozart, conducts what many consider to be the greatest of all operas in a visually spectacular production by director Kasper Holten, with scenery by stage designer extraordinaire Es Devlin, known for innovative stage designs for Beyoncé, Adele, U2 and others.

Don Giovanni

American opera superstar Isabel Leonard and "the soul of the Spanish guitar" Pablo Sáinz-Villegas join forces in a special vocal-guitar program, following their first collaboration for a broadcast from the Palace of Versailles. Each artist has appeared on the Harris Theater stage in different formats: Sáinz-Villegas in 2019 on the Mix at Six series, and Leonard in 2015 in an intimate evening with Sharon Isbin. The two celebrated artists will return to Chicago to perform popular arias and songs beloved around the world.

Isabel Leonard + Pablo Sáinz-Villegas

Harris Theater

A dream cast assembles for Strauss’s grand Viennese comedy. Soprano Lise Davidsen is the aging Marschallin, opposite mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard as her lover Octavian and soprano Erin Morley as Sophie, the beautiful younger woman who steals his heart. Bass Günther Groissböck returns as the churlish Baron Ochs, and Markus Brück is Sophie’s wealthy father, Faninal. Maestro Simone Young takes the Met podium to oversee Robert Carsen’s fin-de-siècle staging.

Der Rosenkavalier

Acadiana Center for the Arts

Lincoln Center

One of today's brightest vocal stars joins one of the world's great guitar virtuosos for an unforgettable performance that will evoke the rich and magnificent musical traditions of Spain. This intimate evening pairs Isabel Leonard, the glamorous mezzo-soprano who has dazzled opera lovers worldwide, with Pablo Sáinz-Villegas, praised by Billboard as “the soul of the Spanish guitar.”

Isabel Leonard and Pablo Sáinz-Villegas in Recital

Colburn School

Isabel Leonard, one of today’s brightest opera stars, joins one of the world’s great guitar players for an intimate performance that will conjure the magnificent musical traditions of Spain. Back in October 2021, Pablo Sáinz-Villegas was invited by Peter Gelb of The Met Opera to join forces, in part, with opera superstar Isabel Leonard in a worldwide broadcast live from Versailles. Following its success, the two artists decided to work creatively to build out a special vocal-guitar program for a limited-run tour in the United States, featuring popular arias and songs beloved around the world.  Praised by Billboard as “the soul of the Spanish guitar”, Pablo Sáinz-Villegas has become a worldwide sensation known as today’s greatest guitarist. As described by The New York Times, his “virtuosic playing characterized by irresistible exuberance” conjures the passion, playfulness, drama, and rich musical heritage of La Rioja, his homeland. His performances include appearances with the Chicago Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, and Los Angeles Philharmonic at Hollywood Bowl.  Isabel Leonard is a Grammy Award–winning mezzo-soprano who has performed leading roles in every major opera house in the world including The Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, and Vienna State Opera; as well as in concert on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Salzburg Festival and The Kennedy Center. She is on the Board of Trustees of Carnegie Hall. In 21/22 she returned to The Metropolitan Opera for Cendrillon and Ariadne auf Naxos (Komponist), Washington National Opera for Come Home: A Celebration of Return and Carmen, and The Santa Fe Opera for Carmen.  “I’m thrilled to be presenting this concert by the esteemed mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard. This will be the third time San Diego Opera has presented singers in the perfect acoustic of the Baker-Baum Concert Hall, but this is the first time for us to do so in partnership with the La Jolla Music Society, which I hope will be the beginning of an ongoing relationship,” shares San Diego Opera General Director David Bennett. This concert continues San Diego Opera’s mission of strategic partnerships with other San Diego cultural organizations including the San Diego Symphony, San Diego Ballet, La Jolla Playhouse, Fern Street Circus, Animal Cracker Conspiracy, and more.

Isabel Leonard and Pablo Sáinz-Villegas

Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center

The concert will feature Academy alumnae Met Opera star Isabel Leonard collaborating with LA Opera’s Nino Sanikidze, who will mesmerize the audience with their showstopping performance. Ms. Leonard will be presented with the Academy’s highest artistic honor, the Distinguished Alumni Award. Join us and enjoy this momentous occasion in the Music Academy’s history.

75th Anniversary Signature Benefit

Music Academy of the West

In an evening of musical friendships, Dudamel brings four extraordinary artists together for memorable music making. Beethoven’s grand and graceful Triple Concerto is followed by the Flamenco-inspired comic ballet The Three-Cornered Hat, based on Andalusian folk music and designed for Spanish dance. A great opportunity to see Dudamel in action at the Bowl.

Dudamel Conducts Beethoven and Falla

Hollywood Bowl

For the second episode of her Close Quarters musical curation, composer Jessie Montgomery is working directly with Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard to craft an original work of video art incorporating the composer’s brilliant and eclectic program with cinematic footage of the orchestra.Isabel Leonard makes her directorial debut with this episode of Close Quarters.

Beyond The Horizon

Mezzo-soprano and Juilliard alum Isabel Leonard leads a master class with students from the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts

Livestreamed Master Class with Isabel Leonard

The Juilliard School

Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra became famous thanks to 2001: A Space Odyssey, but there is much more to this tone poem. Inspired by Nietzsche’s book of the same name, Strauss uses orchestral forces to explore our place in the universe. Isabel Leonard sings Berlioz’s song cycle of love and longing. Samy Moussa’s Elysium depicts the Greek mythological heroes’ final resting place. Kevin John Edusei conducts.

Also sprach Zarathustra

David Geffen Hall

Rossini’s effervescent comedy retakes the stage in Bartlett Sher’s madcap production. Two star mezzo-sopranos—Isabel Leonard and Aigul Akhmetshina—headline a winning ensemble as the feisty heroine, Rosina, alongside high-flying tenors Lawrence Brownlee and Jack Swanson, in his Met debut, as her secret beloved, Count Almaviva. Baritones Davide Luciano and Andrey Zhilikhovsky star as Figaro, the infamous barber of Seville, with baritone Nicola Alaimo and bass-baritone Peter Kálmán as Dr. Bartolo and bass Alexander Vinogradov as Don Basilio rounding out the principal cast. Giacomo Sagripanti conducts.

Isabel Leonard

Mezzo-soprano

Events

Upcoming events

Nov 22, 2024

Livestreamed Master Class with Isabel Leonard · The Juilliard School

2 - 7 Jan, 2025

Also sprach Zarathustra · New York Philharmonic

Apr 15 - Jun 5, 2025

Il Barbiere di Siviglia · The Metropolitan Opera

Past events

Nov 9, 2024

HGO Family Day: Cinderella · Houston Grand Opera

Oct 25 - Nov 9, 2024

Cinderella · Houston Grand Opera

Future and recently performed repertoire

Rosina in The Barber of Seville by Rossini

LA Opera

Songbird in La Périchole by Offenbach

Washington National Opera

Rosina in The Barber of Seville by Rossini

The Metropolitan Opera

Angelina in Cinderella by Rossini

Houston Grand Opera

Singer in Cinderella by Rossini

Houston Grand Opera

About

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