Alexandra Picard
Soprano

Alexandra Picard is emerging as one of the most exciting, young sopranos. Most notable for her portrayals of the Queen of the Night, Konstanze, Musetta and Pamina, the Seattle Times speaks of her “bell-like clarity” while Classical Voice comments on her “charisma and spot on singing” and, of her recent performances of La Bohème, the Everett Herald comments that she “makes a big impression … and knocks it out of the ball park.” Of her recent performance as the Queen of the Night, the Spokesman Review raves “… her singing was arresting… Alexandra Picard tossed off the notorious series of high F’s with complete assurance and at a dauntingly high speed.”

She has sung Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflote for Rogue Opera in Oregon, for the New Opera Festival in Rome, Italy, for the Willamette Concert Opera in Oregon, and for Spokane Opera in Washington. She has performed Musetta in La Bohème for Skagit Opera in Washington, and for the Russian Opera Centre in San Francisco; Pamina in Die Zauberflote in Rome, Italy, and in Seattle, Washington; Olympia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann for Bellevue Opera in Washington, and Arminda in La Finta Giardiniera in Oakland, California.

In concert Alexandra has enjoyed performances of Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass, and Strauss’ Four Last Songs, both with Northwest Symphony Orchestra, with whom she will sing again in February 2011. She originated the role of the Ghost of Butterfly in the jazz opera Welcome to the Voice for the Bell Atlantic Jazz Festival in New York with Steve Nieve and Elvis Costello on Broadway. Last season she sang in Orff’s Carmina Burana to great acclaim, as well as a gala concert for the Embassy of the United States in Paris, France. Upcoming concert performances will include various concerts as well as Handel’s Messiah.

Alexandra was born in New York City, earned a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, and received her Masters in Music from the San Francisco Conservatory. She is a returning member of the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. Roles under preparation include Violetta in La Traviata; Manon in Manon; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire, and Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor and Gerhilde in Die Walküre, both of which she will debut this season.