Johanna Meier
Johanna Meier, the daughter of Clare and Josef Meier, founders of the Black Hills Passion play, grew up in Spearfish, South Dakota. Meier made her debut with the New York City Opera. She went on to a major international career as a member of the Metropolitan Opera for fifteen years, achieving recognition as one of the foremost Wagnerian sopranos of her era.
European appearances included performances at the Vienna Staatsoper, the English National Opera, and with the opera companies of Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Paris, Rome, Venice, Madrid, Barcelona, Zurich, and the Netherlands. Johanna Meier was the first American ever to sing the role of Isolde in Tristan and Isolde for the Bayreuth Festival. This production, by director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, is available on DVD. She also appeared with the Canadian Opera, and at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, as well as in Japan, Mexico City, Israel, and at the Casals Festival in Puerto Rico. Her major roles have encompassed the entire range of opera repertory from the Countess in Marriage of Figaro to Brünnhilde in The Ring of the Nibelung.
Johanna Meier sang with New York Philharmonic, the
Chicago Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra,
l’Orchestre de Paris, the Munich Philharmonic, Concertgebouw
and many others.
Johanna Meier continues to contribute to cultural education in her state and community through the School of Opera and Vocal Arts, which she started in 1997. This endeavor has become a successful part of the Black Hills State University Summer Institute of the Arts through her dedication and professionalism. As the Artistic Director of the Summer Institute of the Arts, Johanna Meier brings in accomplished performing artists from across the United States to further the musical education of aspiring opera singers. Her dedication to her profession earned her an honorary doctorate from Black Hills State University in 2003.
Johanna Meier as Isolde on DVD
Tristan und Isolde on DVD
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