Deborah Voigt, singer and musical personality
at a glance
A Chicago native raised in southern California, Deborah Voigt is recognized as one of the world’s
most versatile singers and one of music’s most endearing personalities. Having made her name as
a leading dramatic soprano, internationally revered for her performances in the operas
of Wagner, Strauss and others, she is also an active recitalist and performer of Broadway
standards and popular songs. Voigt has an extensive discography, and her masterclasses are
enthusiastically received. She appears regularly – as both performer and host – in the Met’s Live
in HD series, which is transmitted live to movie theaters around the world. Honored in the media
with a CBS 60 Minutes profile, features in People and Vanity Fair, spotlights in More and O – the
Oprah Magazine, and appearances on Good Morning America, CNN, and the nationwide telecast of
the MACY*S Thanksgiving Day Parade and July 4 fireworks celebration, Voigt has become
America’s most visible and beloved diva. As WQXR’s inaugural Susan W. Rose Artist-inResidence, she hosts the classical station’s new series The Sopranos with Debbie Voigt, hosts and
performs at the New York Public Radio Gala, and she co-hosts the opening-night broadcast of
Carnegie Hall Live, as well as a number of opera events and masterclasses at WQXR’s Greene
Space. Her memoir, Call Me Debbie: True Confessions of a Down-to-Earth Diva, will be published by
HarperCollins in January 2015.
Highlights of 2014-15 season:
 Jan: Call Me Debbie:True Confessions of a Down-to-Earth Diva to be published by
HarperCollins. Tell-all autobiography goes onstage and off; includes her battles with food and
alcohol addictions, plus behind-the-scenes and onstage anecdotes, secrets to great singing.
 Season-long Artist-in-Residence in Washington National Opera’s Domingo-Cafritz Young
Artist Program: coaching sessions, group classes, leading career roundtable discussions
 Season-long Artist-in-Residence at NY’s WQXR: hosting programs, broadcasts & events
 Oct: returns to title role of Richard Strauss’s Salome in 4 performances at Dallas Opera
 April: Hanna Glawari (role debut) in Michigan Opera Theater: Lehar’s The Merry Widow
Interesting facts:
 May 2014: made special (unannounced) guest appearance singing medley of songs with Kristin
Chenoweth (Glee, Wicked, etc.) in Broadway star’s concert at Carnegie Hall
 Spring 2014: hosted WQXR/WNYC’s Music is a Holy Art: A Richard Strauss Celebration,
documentary marking 150th anniversary of Strauss’s birth
 March 17, 2014: Voigt’s 250th performance at Met (in Berg’s Wozzeck)
 Starred in Met’s Robert Lepage production of Wagner’s Ring cycle: role debut as Brünnhilde
 Named by Los Angeles Times as one of top 25 cultural tweeters to follow
 Her return to Covent Garden in June 2008, heralded by YouTube spoof video, was a media
sensation in US and UK, with coverage by Good Morning America, New York Times, International
Herald Tribune, Associated Press, and BBC TV, among others
 Her singing talent was discovered when she performed in Sunday church services.
 Her favorite roles in high school musicals: Agnes Gooch in Mame; Marian the Librarian in The
Music Man; music of Broadway continues to be a career staple. 2002: headlined benefit concert for
Classical Action (a fundraising program of Broadway Cares) at NYC’s Ford Center with 5 leading
Broadway men. Has appeared twice in Lincoln Center’s “American Songbook” series. Summer
2011: title role in Annie Get Your Gun at Glimmerglass Festival, and as festival’s first artist-inresidence, gave first public performance of Voigt Lessons
 May 2003: after her role debut as Wagner’s Isolde at Vienna State Opera, received 20-minute
standing ovation, which was reported by CNN
 After performing as Aida at Met with Pavarotti, was surprised backstage by President Bill
Clinton. A photo of Voigt and the President, with Pavarotti in background, appeared in People.
Critical acclaim:
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“The only diva who might carry on Beverly Sills’ role as ‘opera cheerleader’ in America.”― NY Times
“Of particular delight: the friendly openness of the great American dramatic soprano Deborah Voigt – a
Brünnhilde to reckon with.” ―Entertainment Weekly
“Internationally renowned…for her unique combination of exquisite singing and hilarious comic
acting.” – Vanity Fair
“Her timorous sweetness and…spitfire sassiness come across as affectingly authentic. … Why shouldn’t
a Wagnerian soprano who has been smitten with musical theater since childhood fulfill a fantasy? …
Ms. Voigt was delightful." ― New York Times (on Annie Get Your Gun)
“Voigt comes to pop singing naturally. She creates each musical mood so perfectly and demonstrates
such show-biz savvy that it makes me wish she had more opportunities … If this were 1970, she would
probably be given her own network variety show; let’s hope that Conan O’Brien and David Letterman
have her on soon. – Opera News
“Not only has her majestic voice made her fans love her, but so has the soprano’s profound feeling for
texts and subtleties of musical style, not to mention her genuine sense of humor.” – WSJ
Recent television and HD appearances:
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Deborah Voigt interviews Patti Smith at Met opening night : Sept 27, 2010
NY-1’s One On 1: March, 2009
ABC’s Good Morning America: June 16, 2008
CBS’s 60 Minutes: January 29, 2006
CNN’s American Morning: April 12, 2005
Recordings:
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Full Met “Ring” cycle, in which she starred as Brünnhilde, released as Blu-ray DVD (DG) in Sept 2012;
won Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording. Voigt has starred in many complete opera recordings,
including title role in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde (DG) and Flying Dutchman (as Senta, Sony);
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Strauss’s Egyptian Helen (Telarc), Ariadne auf Naxos (DG), Elektra (as Chrysothemis, DG), Die Frau
Ohne Schatten (Teldec), and Friedenstag (DG); Berlioz’s Les Troyens (Cassandre, Decca)
Two solo recordings on Angel/EMI Classics: All My Heart, music by Ives, Beach, Griffes, and
Bernstein, plus songs by Ben Moore; and Obsessions, Wagner and Strauss arias and scenes. Both CDs
were Billboard bestsellers; Obsessions was one of New York Times’s Best CDs of 2004.
Some career notes:
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Learned ropes of her profession in San Francisco Opera's Merola Young Artists Program
Breakthrough performance at Boston Lyric Opera in 1991 in what would become her signature role:
Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos
Performs in world’s great houses, including London’s Royal Opera House, La Scala Milano, Opéra
Bastille in Paris, Vienna State Opera, Liceu Barcelona, Berlin Deutsche Oper, San Francisco Opera, and
Lyric Opera of Chicago. With her home company, the Met, Voigt has given 160 performances in more
than a dozen roles, concerts, galas, and surprise appearances since her debut there in 1991.
Awards and media recognition:
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2009: Honorary Doctorate from University of South Carolina
2006: Opera News Award for distinguished achievement in opera
Musical America’s 2003 Vocalist of the Year
2002: Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France)
1990: Gold Medal at Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Competition
1988: Gold Medal at Philadelphia’s Pavarotti Competition
features in People and Vanity Fair, spotlights in More and O – the Oprah Magazine
CBS 60 Minutes profile; appearances on Good Morning America, CNN, and nationwide telecast of
MACY*S Thanksgiving Day Parade and July 4 fireworks celebration
High-res pictures can be downloaded here: https://server.21cmediagroup.com/fl/GFtfJhC8nw
Key 2014-15 dates:
July 13: Ravinia Festival/Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Ted Sperling
July 17, 18: Music Academy of the West
July 22, 24, 30: Aspen Music Festival
Aug 3-13: Mirjam Helin Int’l Singing Competition
Sep 27: Las Vegas Philharmonic
Oct 20, Nov 2, 5, 8: Dallas Opera: Straus: Salome
Dec 21, 28, Jan 4, 17: Hamburg State Opera: Wagner: Tannhäuser
Jan 27: Call Me Debbie (memoir) published by HarperCollins
April 11, 15, 18, 19: Michigan Opera Theater: Lehar: The Merry Widow
April 25: Performance with University of Southern MI Sym. Orch
June 11, 12, 13: Performances with Pacific Symphony Orchestra
www.deborahvoigt.com
www.facebook.com/DeborahVoigt
twitter.com/debvoigt
Highland Park, IL
Santa Barbara, CA
Aspen, CO
Helsinki, Finland
Las Vegas, NV
Dallas, TX
Hamburg, Germany
North America
Detroit, MI
Hattiesburg, MS
Santa Ana, CA