Biography
Recently making a successful transition into dramatic soprano repertoire, EMILY LANGFORD JOHNSON has already built an exciting emerging career. Recognized as “extremely stage savvy” (Opera News), Ms. Johnson has thrilled audiences and critics with her wide vocal range and compelling acting skills. A highlight of the 2017-18 season will be her return to Opera Roanoke in the title role of Tosca.
Most recently, Ms. Johnson made her role debut of Strauss’ Salome with Madison Lyric Stage. Other engagements include scenes from Tosca and Turandot with the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra and at the Sanibel Music Festival with Opera Theatre of Connecticut. Previous seasons brought her role debut as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes with Madison Lyric Stage. For Wagner’s 200th Centennial, she performed at the German Consul Generale in NYC. A co-production with The New York Wagner Society, the concert consisted of Wagner arias, songs by Strauss, and her debut performance of the Wesendonck Lieder.
Formerly a mezzo-soprano, career highlights include roles in Hansel and Gretel, Falstaff, Cosi fan Tutte, Die Zauberflote, The Crucible, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Little Women, Il Signor Bruschino, La Cenerentola, Rigoletto, and the title role in Carmen. On the roster at New York City Opera, she covered roles in Cendrillon, Esther and the New York City premiere of Bernstein’s A Quiet Place. Concert repertoire includes performances of The Messiah, Das Lied von der Erde, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Mozart’s Requiem, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. She has performed with such companies as Opera Santa Barbara, Opera Roanoke, Opera New Jersey, Glimmerglass Opera, Cincinatti Opera, Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, Fox Valley Symphony, Utah Festival Opera, and Palm Beach Opera.
In an engagement with Gotham Chamber Opera, Ms. Johnson created the title role in the critically acclaimed, avant garde work Ariadne Unhinged featuring works by Haydn, Monteverdi and Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire. “It was a tall order, but Johnson gamely tackled every demand and acquitted herself beautifully”(Opera News). A committed performer of contemporary music, Ms. Johnson has enjoyed many collaborations with living composers and world premieres including a recital dedicated to works by Glen Cortese, John Musto, Martin Hennessy and librettist Mark Campbell at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie.
Ms. Johnson earned her BM from The Manhattan School of Music and MFA from The Actors Studio Drama School. She was a winner in the Liederkranz Foundation Competition, the Joyce Dutka Foundation Competition, the Palm Beach Opera Competition, a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, and 1st place winner in the Center for Contemporary Opera’s International Competition.