Join us for a Thanksgiving weekend performance of classics from The Great American Songbook
with
Metropolitan Opera Singer
Wendy Bryn Harmer
Accompanied on piano by her sister,
Marshall Scholar Elizabeth Harmer Dionne (1992)
As they perform songs and reflect on the impact that COVID has had on the performing arts.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Wendy Bryn Harmer, soprano, makes her debut at Opera Philadelphia as Fata Morgana in The Love of Three Oranges and sings Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus in Tokyo with Seiji Ozawa.
A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Ms. Harmer has appeared in their productions of Le nozze di Figaro, War and Peace, Khovanshchina, Parsifal, Die Agyptische Helena, Jenufa, and the complete Ring Cycle. She also appeared in the Met’s HD broadcasts of the Ring Cycle and The Magic Flute, which have subsequently been released on DVD (Deutsche Gramophone). Other recent opera engagements have included the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos and Adalgisa in Norma at the Palm Beach Opera, Leonora in Fidelio at Opera Omaha, Senta in Die fliegende Holländer and multiple roles in the Ring Cycle at the Seattle Opera, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus at the Houston Grand Opera, Eglantine in Euryanthe at the Bard Music Festival, Die Walküre at the San Francisco Opera, Glauce in Medea at the Glimmerglas Festival, Wanda in La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein and Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito at Opera Boston, and Mimi in La Bohéme at the Utah Opera Festival.
In concert, Ms. Harmer recently made her debuts at the Tanglewood Festival in a performance of Die Walküre, with Boston Baroque in performances of Fidelio, and with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in performances of Vaughn William’s Sea Symphony. She has also appeared with the San Francisco Symphony in performances of the Beethoven Symphony No. 9, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in concert performances of Das Rheingold, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir as a soloist at the Schubert Festival, and in Lincoln Center’s Tribute to Renata Tebaldi. In 2005, she made her New York recital debut under the auspices of The Marilyn Horne Foundation, and was presented by the George London Foundation in a recital with Ben Heppner at the Morgan Library.
Born in Roseville, California, Ms. Harmer graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from The Boston Conservatory and attended the Music of Academy of the West. She was also a member of the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera, the Gerdine Young Artist Program at Opera Theater of St Louis, and was one of nine singers invited to study at The Music Academy in Villecroze, France. Her many awards include a 2010 Richard Tucker Grant, the 2007 Jensen Award, the Teatro alla Scala Award at the 2007 Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, first place at the Palm Beach Opera Competition, the 2005 winner of the George London/Leonie Rysanek Award, and an award from The Marilyn Horne Foundation.
Elizabeth Harmer Dionne (1992) currently works as a pro bono attorney at Massachusetts Advocates for Children, where she represents low-income children with special needs. She is combining this work with research on her Ph.D. dissertation (Boston College), looking into issues of enforcement of special education law. This work is the culmination of seventeen years of advocacy on behalf of her oldest son, who is autistic. Elizabeth previously was an associate in the real estate practice group of Goodwin Procter, LLP, and the business practice group of Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, LLP. She has taught political science at both Boston College and Wellesley College and previously sat on the Governor’s Advisory Committee for Women’s Issues. She is a member of Belmont Town Meeting and sits on the Warrant (Finance) Committee for the Town. She also chairs Belmont’s Community Preservation Committee, which administers funds for open space, recreation, historic preservation, and affordable housing. From 2013-2019, she was the minister of music for her church congregation. For the past four years, she has served on the Development Committee of the Association of Marshall Scholars as Co-Chair of the AMS’s Annual Fund. She holds a BA from Wellesley College (English and political science), an M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge (political theory), and a JD from Stanford Law School.