Hailed by Musical America for “her voice pure and ethereal, her expression embracing and heartfelt,â€? Elissa Johnston has appeared in a wide range of repertory. Her orchestral engagements include appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen and Miguel Harth-Bedoya; the Atlanta, Fort Worth and Santa Rosa symphonies; the Los Angeles and St. Paul chamber orchestras; and the San Francisco Contemporary Players. She has performed numerous times with the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s New Music Group both in Los Angeles and at the Ojai Festival with conductors Tan Dun, David Zinman, Daniel Harding and Steven Stucky.

Johnston recently made her Lincoln Center debut singing Brahms’s Liebeslieder Waltzes with the New York City Ballet and was subsequently invited back to premier Morgen!, a set of ten orchestral songs by Richard Strauss choreographed by Peter Martins. She also appeared in the New York Philharmonic’s Copland Festival and Lincoln Center’s Stravinsky Festival.

She has performed in recital at the Aldeburgh Festival in England and the Aspen Festival’s Winter Music Series with composer Ricky Ian Gordon. Also in Aspen, she sang the role of Pat Nixon in the world premiere of John Adams’ concert suite from Nixon in China entitled The Nixon Tapes, with the composer conducting. Upcoming engagements include appearances with Southwest Chamber Music performing Mahler’s Symphony No. 4.

Johnston has performed the roles of Pamina in The Magic Flute at the Snape Proms in England; the Female Chorus (sung by a single soloist) in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia at the Aldeburgh October Britten Festival; and Marzelline in concert performances of Beethoven’s Fidelio, both at the Aspen Festival and with the Wheeling Symphony. Johnston also performed the role of Brigitta in concert performances of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by Valery Gergiev. She has appeared with the LA Opera in Il Trovatore, The Marriage of Figaro and The Return of Ulysses.

Johnston can be heard on numerous film soundtracks and is the featured soloist of the current IMAX release Deep Sea 3D, composed by Danny Elfman.

photo LACO archives