Christina Pier

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 recent seasons, Christina Pier was a soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in with the Missoula Symphony Orchestra and has 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 with 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 Messiah with 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 Shéhérazade with 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 on the Voice Faculty at University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

May 13, 2022: Christina Pier Performs Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in Asheville Symphony’s Season Finale
- The Urban News

January 19, 2018: Mozart’s Don Giovanni Recording Released with Christina Pier and the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra
- Spotify

April 27, 2010: ‘Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem - Sancta Civitas’ Album Released with David Hill and Christina Pier
- Spotify

VIRGINIA OPERA MOUNTS A HIGH-FLYING ‘DUTCHMAN’
“She was a pleasure to listen to all evening, in all registers.”
– Robert Battey, The Washington Post

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

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

VIRGINIA OPERA’S ‘ARIADNE AUF NAXOS’ IS STRONG AND AMBITIOUS, IF NOT WORLD-CLASS
“Christina Pier, in the title role, was vocally firm, rich throughout her range — a true Strauss soprano.”
– Robert Battey, The Washington Post

Orchestral Repertoire

Bach
Cantatas
Christmas Oratorio
Easter Oratorio
Magnificat
Mass in B-minor
St. John Passion
St. Matthew Passion

Barber
Knoxville: Summer 1915
Prayers of Kierkegaard

Beethoven
Egmont (incidental music), Op. 84
Mass in C-Major
Missa Solemnis
Symphony No. 9

Berg
7 Frühe Lieder

Berlioz
Les nuits d’été (high key)

Bernstein
Symphony NO. 3 “Kaddish”

Bolcom
Songs of Innocence and of Experience

Brahms
Ein deutsches Requiem

Bruckner
Psalm 150
Te Deum

Canteloube
Songs of the Auvergne

Dvorák
Requiem
Stabat Mater
Te Deum

Fauré
Requiem

Finzi
In terra pax

Golijov
Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra

Górecki
Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs)

Gounod
Messe solennelle à Sainte Cécile

Grieg
Peer Gynt

Handel
Messiah
Solomon

Haydn
Creation
Harmoniemesse
Paukenmesse
Paulus
The Seasons
The Seven Last Words of Christ

Hailstork
The World Called

Honneger
Le Roi David

Janácek
Glagolitic Mass

Kodaly
Te Deum

Alma Mahler
Four Songs for Soprano and Orchestra

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 2 – “Resurrection”
Symphony No. 4
Symphony No. 8

Mendelssohn
Elijah
Symphony No. 2 – “Lobgesang”
Paulus

Messiaen
Poèmes pour Mi

Mozart
Concert Arias
Coronation Mass
Exultate, Jubilate
Great Mass in C-minor
Requiem
Vesperae de Dominica
Vesperae solennes de confessore

Pergolesi
Stabat Mater

Poulenc
Gloria
Stabat Mater

Ravel
Shéhérazade

Rutter
Magnificat
Mass of the Children
Requiem

Saint-Saëns
Oratorio de Noël

Schubert
Der Hirf auf dem Felsen

Schumann
Scenes from Goethe’s Faust (Gretchen)

R. Strauss
Four Last Songs
Orchestral Songs

Tippett
A Child of Our Time

Vaughan Williams
Dona Nobis Pacem
Pastoral Symphony
Serenade to Music

Stravinski
Pulcinella

Verdi
Requiem

Villa Lobos
Bachianas brasileiras No. 5

Vivaldi
Gloria

Wagner
Wesendonck Lieder

***

Opera Repertoire

Barber
Vanessa (Vanessa)

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)

Cipullo
Glory Denied (Older Alyce)

Dvorak
Rusalka (Rusalka)

Floyd
Cold Sassy Tree (Love Simpson)

Gluck
Iphigénie en Tauride (Iphigénie)

Gounod
Faust (Marguerite)

Janácek
Jenufa (Jenufa)

Mascagni
Cavalleria Rusticana (Santuzza)

Monteverdi
RusticanL’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)

Puccini
Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica)

Purcell
Dido and Aeneas (Dido)

J. Strauss
Die Fledermaus (Rosalinde)

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)

*Updated June 2022