“With a voice of steely beauty and great power,” (Houston Chronicle) soprano TAMARA WILSON was recently the grand prize winner of the 48th Annual Francisco Viñas Competition held at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain.

In the 2012 – 2013 season, Ms. Wilson returns to the Canadian Opera Company as Rosalinde in a new Christopher Alden production of 'Die Fledermaus' conducted by Johannes Debus, Théâtre du Capitole as Lady Billows in a new production of 'Albert Herring', and Houston Grand Opera as Leonora in 'Il trovatore'. In concert . . . , she will debut with the Saint Louis Symphony as soprano soloist in Handel’s 'Messiah' and will be seen with Helmuth Rilling in Verdi’s 'Messa da requiem' on tour with Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart. Additionally, she returns to Carnegie Hall as Malwina in Marschner’s rarely-heard opera 'Der Vampyr' with the American Symphony Orchestra. Future seasons will see her in the roles of Verdi, Bellini, Mozart, and Strauss at the Oper Frankfurt, Washington National Opera, Théâtre du Capitole, Teatro Real de Madrid, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Los Angeles Opera, and Houston Grand Opera.

Ms. Wilson began the 2011 – 2012 season as the title role in 'Aida' at Teatro Municipal de Santiago in Chile. “A bona fide Verdi soprano,” she also sang Elisabeth de Valois in the five-act French version of 'Don Carlos' at Houston Grand Opera and debuted at Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse as Leonora in a new production of 'Il trovatore', as well as in Palma de Mallorca. She also debuts at the Ravinia Festival as Elettra in 'Idomeneo' with James Conlon and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Other notable recent engagements include Amelia in 'Un ballo in maschera' at Washington National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Teatre Principal de Maó in Menorca, Spain; Alice Ford in 'Falstaff' for her debut with Washington National Opera; Amelia Grimaldi in 'Simon Boccanegra' at the Canadian Opera Company; the title role in 'Aida' at Opera Australia; her German debut at Oper Frankfurt in concert performances of Wagner’s early opera 'Die Feen' as Ada under Sebastian Weigle; Elettra in 'Idomeneo' under Harry Bicket at the Canadian Opera Company; Konstanze in 'Die Entführung aus dem Serail' at Houston Grand Opera; Miss Jessel in 'The Turn of the Screw' and the First Lady in 'Die Zauberflöte' at Los Angeles Opera, both under James Conlon.

On the concert stage, Ms. Wilson made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop in Honegger’s 'Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher', as well as appeared with the Eugene Concert Choir in Britten’s 'War Requiem', Charlotte Symphony in Beethoven’s 'Missa solemnis', and returned to the Oregon Bach Festival in Tippett’s 'A Child of Our Time'. Recently, she has been soprano soloist for performances of 'Missa solemnis' with John Nelson and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in Lisbon, which is available on DVD, as well as Mozart’s Requiem with Edo de Waart and the Milwaukee Symphony and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2 (“Lobgesang”) with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra. A favorite of the Oregon Bach Festival, she debuted in Verdi’s Messa da requiem under Helmuth Rilling for the opening of their 40th Anniversary season. She then returned to sing Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 under Rilling, as well as Marguerite in 'Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher' under Marin Alsop. She recently toured Japan with Helmuth Rilling and Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

An alumna of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Ms. Wilson’s awards include the George London Award from the George London Foundation in which she was hailed for a “striking timbre all her own” (Opera News), as well as both a career grant in 2011 and study grant in 2008 from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. Other notable awards include first place in the 2005 Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers in Houston and finalist in the 2004 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, among others. In addition to her operatic and orchestral performances, Ms. Wilson is an avid lecturer of vocal technique. She has been a Guest Master Class Lecturer for the National Pastoral Musicians in the Chicago area. Ms. Wilson received her degree at the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music.