


American soprano Christina Pier has been hailed by Opera News for her “big, gleaming soprano and impressive coloratura,” and has received great critical and audience acclaim for her work on opera and concert stages. Her 2018-19 season highlights include a performance of Carmen co-produced Opera Carolina and the Toledo Opera and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Tallahassee Symphony.
In the 2017-18 season Christina Pier was a soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in a return to the Missoula Symphony Orchestra and performed Handel’s Messiah with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacemwith Back Bay Chorale, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”) and Richard Strauss’ Trio from Der Rosenkavalier in a return to the Winston-Salem Symphony. Other recent engagements include a soloist role in Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Indianapolis Symphony, in Handel’s Messiah with the Virginia Symphony, Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Missoula Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, a concert of Mozart arias with the Tallahassee Symphony, and the role of Donna Anna in a semi-staged production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni with the Kalamazoo Symphony.
A Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, opera highlights for Ms. Pier include the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos with Virginia Opera; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Santa Fe Opera, Sarasota Opera, Nashville Opera, and Eugene Opera; Micaëla in Carmen and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with Florida Grand Opera; the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro with Minnesota Opera; Marguerite in Faust with Eugene Opera; and Micaëla in Carmen with the Princeton Festival.
On concert stages, her appearances include Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the North Carolina Symphony and Rochester Symphony; Handel’s Messiahwith the Indianapolis and Winston-Salem Symphonies; Verdi’s Requiem with the Charlottesville Symphony; Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Colorado Symphony; Mozart’s Requiem with the Charlotte Symphony and Eugene Symphony; Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang and selections from Beethoven’s Leonore with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor with the Alabama Symphony; and Ravel’s Shéhérazadewith the Hartford Symphony. She has also performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Roberto Abbado, given recitals under the auspices of the George London Foundation, and concerts with the World Youth Orchestra in Italy and at the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations in New York. She appears as a soloist on a recording of Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem, with David Hill and the BBC Singers on the Naxos label.
Ms. Pier is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the George London Foundation Award, Sullivan Musical Foundation Award, two Charles A. Lynam Awards, and two Palm Beach Opera Competition Awards. Originally from Flagstaff, AZ, Ms. Pier received a BM and MM in voice at Indiana University where she studied with Virginia Zeani. She is currently an Artist in Residence at Catawba College, and a Guest Lecturer at University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
Virginia Opera mounts a high-flying ‘Dutchman’
“She was a pleasure to listen to all evening, in all registers.”
– Robert Battey, The Washington Post – Related Link
Opera review: ‘The Flying Dutchman’
“Christina Pier, Friday evening’s vocal standout with a pure, rich soprano that would overflow a hall twice the size of the Carpenter Theatre.”
– Roy Proctor, The Richmond Times-Dispatch – Related Link
Review: Virginia Opera’s “The Flying Dutchman” delivers plenty for the devoted Wagner fan
“First among equals was soprano Christina Pier as Senta, the obsessed young woman who sacrifices herself for the Dutchman’s redemption. Pier has a large voice that maintains its richness throughout its range. Wagner asks his soprano for many high notes, as well as soft singing in the great duet with the Dutchman, and Pier delivered her music with unflagging beauty and security. After a night of strenuous singing, she was still able to deliver Senta’s lines with the excitement needed to bring the opera to a satisfying conclusion.”
– Paul Sayegh, The Virginian-Pilot – Related Link
Virginia Opera’s ‘Ariadne auf Naxos’ is strong and ambitious, if not world-class
– Robert Battey, The Washington Post – Related Link
Orchestral
-
Bach
Cantatas
Christmas Oratorio
Easter Oratorio
Magnificat
Mass in B-minor
John Passion
St. Matthew PassionBarber
Knoxville: Summer 1915
Prayers of KierkegaardBeethoven
Egmont (incidental music), Op. 84
Mass in C-Major
Missa Solemnis
Symphony No. 9Berlioz
Les nuits d’été (high key)Bernstein
Symphony NO. 3 “Kaddish”Brahms
Ein deutsches RequiemBritten (Remove?)
War RequiemBruckner
Psalm 150
Te DeumCanteloube
Songs of the AuvergneDvorák
Requiem
Stabat Mater
Te DeumFauré
RequiemFinzi
In terra paxGolijov
Three Songs for Soprano and OrchestraGounod
Messe solennelle à Sainte CécileGrieg
Peer GyntHandel
Messiah
SolomonHaydn
Creation
Harmoniemesse
Paukenmesse
The SeasonsHailstork
The World CalledHonneger
Le Roi DavidJanácek
Glagolitic MassKodaly
Te DeumMahler
Symphony No. 2 – “Resurrection”
Symphony No. 4Mendelssohn
Elijah
Symphony No. 2 – “Lobgesang”Messiaen
Poèmes pour MiMozart
Concert AriasCoronation Mass
Exultate, JubilateGreat Mass in C-minor
Requiem
Vesperae de Dominica
Vesperae solennes de confessorePergolesi
Stabat MaterPoulenc
Gloria
Stabat MaterRavel
ShéhérazadeRutter
Magnificat
RequiemSaint-Saëns
Oratorio de NoëlSchubert
Der Hirf auf dem FelsenSchumann
Scenes from Goethe’s Faust (Gretchen)R. Strauss
Four Last Songs
Orchestral SongsStravinski
PulcinellaVaughan Williams
Dona Nobis Pacem
Pastoral Symphony
Serenade to MusicVerdi
RequiemVilla Lobos
Bachianas brasileiras No. 5Vivaldi
GloriaWagner
Wesendonck Lieder
Opera
-
Bizet
Carmen (Micaëla)Britten
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Helena)
Peter Grimes (Ellen Orford)
The Rape of Lucretia (Female Chorus)
The Turn of the Screw (Governess)Dvorak
Rusalka (Rusalka)Floyd
Cold Sassy Tree (Love Simpson)Gluck
Iphigénie en Tauride (Iphigénie)Gounod
Faust (Marguerite)Janácek
Jenufa (Jenufa)Monteverdi
L’Orfeo (Proserpina)Mozart
La Clemenza di Tito (Vitellia)
Così fan tutte (Fiordiligi)
Don Giovanni (Donna Anna, Donna Elvira)
Idomeneo (Elettra)
Le Nozze di Figaro (Countess)
Die Zauberflöte (Pamina, First Lady)Offenbach
Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Antonia)Poulenc
Les Dialogues des Carmélites (Madame Lidoine)Purcell
Dido and Aeneas (Dido)R. Strauss
Arabella (Arabella)
Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne)
Elektra (Maidservants)Tchaikovsky
Eugene Onegin (Tatiana)Verdi
Otello (Desdemona)Wagner
Der Fliegende Holländer (Senta)
Lohengrin (Elsa)
Die Meisgersinger von Nürnberg (Eva)
Das Rheingold (Freia)
Tannhäuser (Elisabeth)Weber
Der Freischütz (Agathe)
Orchestral
Bach
Cantatas
Christmas Oratorio
Easter Oratorio
Magnificat
Mass in B-minor
John Passion
St. Matthew PassionBarber
Knoxville: Summer 1915
Prayers of KierkegaardBeethoven
Egmont (incidental music), Op. 84
Mass in C-Major
Missa Solemnis
Symphony No. 9Berlioz
Les nuits d’été (high key)Bernstein
Symphony NO. 3 “Kaddish”Brahms
Ein deutsches RequiemBritten (Remove?)
War RequiemBruckner
Psalm 150
Te DeumCanteloube
Songs of the AuvergneDvorák
Requiem
Stabat Mater
Te DeumFauré
RequiemFinzi
In terra paxGolijov
Three Songs for Soprano and OrchestraGounod
Messe solennelle à Sainte CécileGrieg
Peer GyntHandel
Messiah
SolomonHaydn
Creation
Harmoniemesse
Paukenmesse
The SeasonsHailstork
The World CalledHonneger
Le Roi DavidJanácek
Glagolitic MassKodaly
Te DeumMahler
Symphony No. 2 – “Resurrection”
Symphony No. 4Mendelssohn
Elijah
Symphony No. 2 – “Lobgesang”Messiaen
Poèmes pour MiMozart
Concert AriasCoronation Mass
Exultate, JubilateGreat Mass in C-minor
Requiem
Vesperae de Dominica
Vesperae solennes de confessorePergolesi
Stabat MaterPoulenc
Gloria
Stabat MaterRavel
ShéhérazadeRutter
Magnificat
RequiemSaint-Saëns
Oratorio de NoëlSchubert
Der Hirf auf dem FelsenSchumann
Scenes from Goethe’s Faust (Gretchen)R. Strauss
Four Last Songs
Orchestral SongsStravinski
PulcinellaVaughan Williams
Dona Nobis Pacem
Pastoral Symphony
Serenade to MusicVerdi
RequiemVilla Lobos
Bachianas brasileiras No. 5Vivaldi
GloriaWagner
Wesendonck Lieder
Opera
Bizet
Carmen (Micaëla)Britten
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Helena)
Peter Grimes (Ellen Orford)
The Rape of Lucretia (Female Chorus)
The Turn of the Screw (Governess)Dvorak
Rusalka (Rusalka)Floyd
Cold Sassy Tree (Love Simpson)Gluck
Iphigénie en Tauride (Iphigénie)Gounod
Faust (Marguerite)Janácek
Jenufa (Jenufa)Monteverdi
L’Orfeo (Proserpina)Mozart
La Clemenza di Tito (Vitellia)
Così fan tutte (Fiordiligi)
Don Giovanni (Donna Anna, Donna Elvira)
Idomeneo (Elettra)
Le Nozze di Figaro (Countess)
Die Zauberflöte (Pamina, First Lady)Offenbach
Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Antonia)Poulenc
Les Dialogues des Carmélites (Madame Lidoine)Purcell
Dido and Aeneas (Dido)R. Strauss
Arabella (Arabella)
Ariadne auf Naxos (Ariadne)
Elektra (Maidservants)Tchaikovsky
Eugene Onegin (Tatiana)Verdi
Otello (Desdemona)Wagner
Der Fliegende Holländer (Senta)
Lohengrin (Elsa)
Die Meisgersinger von Nürnberg (Eva)
Das Rheingold (Freia)
Tannhäuser (Elisabeth)Weber
Der Freischütz (Agathe)
Audio
Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos – Es Gibt Ein Reich

Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro – Dove Sono

Dvorak: Rusalka – Song to the Moon

Handel: Messiah – But Thou Did’st Not Leave

Poulenc: Violon

Documents
Short Biography
American soprano Christina Pier has been hailed by Opera News for her “big, gleaming soprano and impressive coloratura,” and has received great critical and audience acclaim for her work on opera and concert stages. Her 2018-19 season highlights include a performance of Carmen co-produced Opera Carolina and the Toledo Opera and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Tallahassee Symphony. In the 2017-18 season Christina Pier was a soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in a return to the Missoula Symphony Orchestra and performed Handel’s Messiah with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem with Back Bay Chorale, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”) and Richard Strauss’ Trio from Der Rosenkavalier in a return to the Winston-Salem Symphony. She has also performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Roberto Abbado, and recitals under the auspices of the George London Foundation. She appears as a soloist on a recording of Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem, with David Hill and the BBC Singers on the Naxos label. |
Full Biography
American soprano Christina Pier has been hailed by Opera News for her “big, gleaming soprano and impressive coloratura,” and has received great critical and audience acclaim for her work on opera and concert stages. Her 2018-19 season highlights include a performance of Carmen co-produced Opera Carolina and the Toledo Opera and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Tallahassee Symphony.
In the 2017-18 season Christina Pier was a soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in a return to the Missoula Symphony Orchestra and performed Handel’s Messiah with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacemwith Back Bay Chorale, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”) and Richard Strauss’ Trio from Der Rosenkavalier in a return to the Winston-Salem Symphony. Other recent engagements include a soloist role in Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Indianapolis Symphony, in Handel’s Messiah with the Virginia Symphony, Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Missoula Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, a concert of Mozart arias with the Tallahassee Symphony, and the role of Donna Anna in a semi-staged production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni with the Kalamazoo Symphony.
A Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, opera highlights for Ms. Pier include the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos with Virginia Opera; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Santa Fe Opera, Sarasota Opera, Nashville Opera, and Eugene Opera; Micaëla in Carmen and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with Florida Grand Opera; the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro with Minnesota Opera; Marguerite in Faust with Eugene Opera; and Micaëla in Carmen with the Princeton Festival.
On concert stages, her appearances include Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the North Carolina Symphony and Rochester Symphony; Handel’s Messiahwith the Indianapolis and Winston-Salem Symphonies; Verdi’s Requiem with the Charlottesville Symphony; Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Colorado Symphony; Mozart’s Requiem with the Charlotte Symphony and Eugene Symphony; Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang and selections from Beethoven’s Leonore with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor with the Alabama Symphony; and Ravel’s Shéhérazadewith the Hartford Symphony. She has also performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Roberto Abbado, given recitals under the auspices of the George London Foundation, and concerts with the World Youth Orchestra in Italy and at the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations in New York. She appears as a soloist on a recording of Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem, with David Hill and the BBC Singers on the Naxos label.
Ms. Pier is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the George London Foundation Award, Sullivan Musical Foundation Award, two Charles A. Lynam Awards, and two Palm Beach Opera Competition Awards. Originally from Flagstaff, AZ, Ms. Pier received a BM and MM in voice at Indiana University where she studied with Virginia Zeani. She is currently an Artist in Residence at Catawba College, and a Guest Lecturer at University of North Carolina, Charlotte.