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The American soprano, Elissa Johnston, studied at University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, California.
Hailed by Musical America for “her voice pure and ethereal, her expression embracing and heartfelt”, Chicago Tribune for the “exquisite beauty, sensitivity and precision” of her singing, Elissa Johnston has appeared in a wide range of repertoire, from J.S. Bach, George Frideric Handel, and W.A. Mozart to Messiaen, Carter, Unsuk Chin, and Lachenmann. Her orchestral engagements include appearances with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Colorado Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Oregon Bach Festival, San Francisco Contemporary Players and the Pasadena Symphony.
Recent highlights include Messiaen’s Harawi with pianist Vicki Ray at Jacaranda Music, a Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Baroque Conversations concert led by Monica Huggett, music of François Couperin with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra Chamber Music Society led by Thomas Adès, and Johannes Brahms' Requiem with the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Other recent appearances include George Frideric Handel’s Radamisto with Musica Angelica, J.S. Bach solo cantatas BWV 184 (?) and BWV 202 with Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, and Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite with the Denali String Quartet. Elissa has made numerous chamber music appearances with Southwest Chamber Music, Xtet and Jacaranda Music. This season she sang in the acclaimed world premiere of SPIRAL XII by Chinary Ung with the Los Angeles Master Chorale at Walt Disney Concert Hall. In 2005, she sang the world premiere of Aura by Chinary Ung with Grammy Award winning Southwest Chamber Music.
Elissa Johnston has performed numerous times with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra’s New Music Group, both in Los Angeles and at the Ojai Festival, with conductors Tan Dun, David Zinman, Daniel Harding and Steven Stucky. She made her Lincoln Center debut singing Johannes Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes with the New York City Ballet and was subsequently invited back to premiere Morgen!, a set of 10 orchestral songs by Richard Strauss choreographed by Peter Martins. She also appeared in the New York Philharmonic Orchestra’s Copland Festival and Lincoln Center’s Stravinsky Festival. Her recital appearances include programs at the Aldeburgh Festival in England and at the Aspen Festival’s Winter Music Series with composer Ricky Ian Gordon.
Her recent performances include George Frideric Handel’s Messiah in Tokyo and Osaka with the Telemann Chamber Orchestra, the west coast premiere of Elliott Carter’s What are Years and the world premiere of Some Things Do Not Move by Ann LeBaron, both with Southwest Chamber Music, Unsuk Chin’s Akrostichon Wortspiel, Chinary Ung’s Aura at Le Poisson Rouge with the New York New Music Ensemble, and David Lang’s the little match girl passion at the Ravinia Festival. Particularly drawn to the music of J.S. Bach, she has recently performed J.S. Bach Cantatas BWV 54 (?) and BWV 84 with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Cantatas BWV 51 and BWV 82 with the Long Beach Symphony, Mass in B Minor (BWV 232) and St Matthew Passion (BWV 244) with the L.A. Master Chorale, and has appeared with Los Angeles based J.S. Bach’s Circle at the Oregon Bach Festival. Upcoming performances include concerts with the Long Beach Symphony, Orchestra Santa Monica, Le Salon de la Musique and at Disney Hall’s REDCAT.
Last season Elissa (2016-2017) sang Arnold Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 2 with Quator Diotima at Jacaranda Music, W.A. Mozart’s Requiem with the Long Beach Symphony, Igor Stravinsky’s Les Noces with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and Samuel Barber’s Hermit Songs at Le Salon de Musiques. Elissa has appeared as guest soloist with the Pacific Chorale under conductor John Alexander in Johannes Brahms'’ Requiem, with the Long Beach Symphony under conductor Gemma New in Gustav Mahler’s 4th Symphony and Samuel Barber’s Knoxville, Summer of 1915, and with the San Luis Obispo Symphony in Gustav Mahler’s 2nd Symphony. In April 2018, Elissa will appear with Pacific Symphony under Carl St. Clair in Philip Glass’ The Passion of Ramakrishna at Carnegie Hall, as part of Carnegie’s year-long celebration of Philip Glass’ 80th birthday.
Elissa Johnston recorded Chinary Ung’s Aura with Southwest Chamber Music (2006) and toured with the ensemble in Vietnam and Cambodia, and has sung Messiaen’s epic song cycle Harawi with pianist Vicki Ray at both Jacaranda Music and Pianospheres. She can also be heard on dozens of film soundtracks. She is the featured vocal soloist in Serenata Schizophrana by Danny Elfman which was recently released on the Sony Classical label and featured on the IMAX release Deep Sea 3D.
Elissa Johnston is married to Grant Gershon and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. |
