Biography

Janice Edwards, Mezzo-Soprano
2004 CD cover photo
(© Photo by Chehalis Hegner)

Mezzo-soprano Janice Edwards enjoys success in opera, oratorio and recital at home and abroad. Her artistic versatility encompasses the principal Wagner and Verdi heroines, major oratorios including Messiah, Verdi's Requiem, Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, Rossini's Stabat Mater, and various Bach works including passions, masses and cantatas. Her numerous recitals in the U.S., Denmark and the Czech Republic range from standard to contemporary, including the premiere of a song cycle by noted Danish composer Erik Norby.

Significant successes include Ms. Edwards' internationally acclaimed portrayal of Fricka in Arizona Opera's Der Ring Des Nibelungen, the first-ever Ring to be presented in the American Southwest. The Tucson Citizen raved that "with both the full heroic voice to shake the balcony and the dramatic focus to undo Wotan's conniving, she cut a figure of uncompromising authority." Opern Welt found her Fricka "an excellent combination of vocal power and dramatic skill."

Janice Edwards as Olga
in Eugene Onegin

As the Mother in Granite State Opera's Amahl and the Night Visitors, Ms. Edwards "had an amazing voice that was able to stir emotion from the recesses of the unconscious." Her Azucena with the same company was "amazingly concentrated, focused and chilling." Ms. Edwards has appeared in numerous venues, including Granite State Opera, New Hampshire Symphony, Connecticut Grand Opera, Kentucky Opera, Georgia Opera, New Hampshire Music Festival, Collegiate Chorale and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. In Europe, she has been heard with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dvořák Summer Music Festival, Orchestra of the State Theatre of Prague, Karlsbad Symphony Orchestra, Košice (Slovakia) Symphony Orchestra, Janáček Philharmonic, Ostrava Philharmonic, Danish Sinfonietta and the Nielsen String Quartet.

Recent engagements include Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Keene Chamber Orchestra, the Pioneer Valley Symphony and the Monadnock Chorus; "Love, American Style - an Evening of American Love Songs" at the Dvořák Summer Music Festival in Prague, Czech Republic; Messiah with the Clearlakes Chorale (Wolfeboro, NH); Berlioz' Romeo et Juliette and Beethoven's 9th with the Portland Symphony; Mahler's Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection) with the NH Symphony; Farewell, Vienna, a play with music based on the life of Erich Wolfgang Korngold with the Willamette Concert Opera in Portland, OR; and with Granite State Opera, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly.

Upcoming engagements include Eric Sawyer's Our American Cousin with the Boston Modern Opera Project.

Ms. Edwards maintains an active voice studio in Manchester, New Hampshire (See Voice Studio Page for details).