Lina Johnson

INTRODUCTION

The soprano Lina Johnson has a natural stage presence and a beautiful, mellow, clear and expressive lyric coloraturavoice.

Her operatic career features performing soubrette, lyric coloratura and belcanto repertoire, as well as concert repertoire like Mozart concert arias, Brahms’ Requiem, Händel’s Messiah and Orff’s Carmina Burana.

Lina Johnson regularly performs church music, lied recitals and contemporary music in concert venues predominantly around Europe. She has performed as a soloist with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Jenaer Philharmonie, Hamburger Camerata and Novaya Russia Orchestra of Moscow.

In 2019 she released the album “Face to Face” on the Amchara/Naxos label, which received great acclaim in the press. In 2020 the album “A Quiet Beauty” was released on the LAWO label.

RECENT AND FUTURE ENGAGEMENTS

Most recent and future highlights include (among others):

• Lauretta/Gianni Schicchi, Stasi/Die Csárdásfürstin, Eurydike/Orfeus in the Underworld, Gilda/Rigoletto, a role debut as Violetta/La Traviata and The Diva in Ekman’s A Swan Lake at the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, Oslo;
• Musetta/La Bohème w. Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera and at the Aalborg Opera Festival 2024;
• Marie/La Fille du Régiment at Oscarsborg Opera;
• Rosmiri in Arsace by G.M. Orlandini (in concert) at Barokkfest (Trondheim);
• a role debut as Servilia/La clemenza di Tito at Teatre Liceu de Barcelona;
• a recital and a concert with the Bergen National Opera;
• concerts with Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (incl. Carmina Burana with Ed Gardner);
• Bach’s Mass in B minor and St John Passion with the Copenhagen Philharmonic;
• engagements with Le Concert des Nations on tour: Peri/Das Paradies und die Peri in Santander, Barcelona, Paris, and Hamburg, Missa Solemnis in Barcelona, Dresden, and Paris, Haydn’s The Seasons in Barcelona, Paris, Toulouse, and Dresden, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at Salzburger Festpiele and the Wiener Konzerthaus;
• Mahler’s Symphony No.4, Weigl’s 3 Gesänge für hohe Frauenstimme und Orchester (concerts and a CD recording), and songs by Strauss and Scartazzini with Jena Philharmonic Orchestra;
• Mozart’s Requiem and Bononcini’s Stabat Mater with the Arctic Philharmonic;
• concerts (including a Christmas concert) with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra;
• Leonora/Il Trovatore at the Opera Festival in Kristiansund;
• Haydn’s The Creation and a Gala concert w. the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra;
• Gala concerts at Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, Opera i Rebild, Denmark, the Fredriksen Festival w. Opera Østfold;
• Fauré’s Requiem at the Kirsten Flagstad Festival (Hamar, Norway);
• a performance with Verdensballetten.

BIOGRAPHY

Lina Johnson comes from the small island community of Austevoll on the Norwegian west coast. She is Norwegian and American by birth.

Season 2019/2020

Lina performed Gilda/Rigoletto with the Norwegian Opera, Oslo, Poulenc’s Gloria with Odense Symphonic Orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Elias with Cæciliaforeningen Oslo, and Konstanze/Entführung aus dem Serail at Danish National Opera.

Season 2018/2019

The artist has sung Lucia/Lucia di Lammermoor at Opera Hedeland, Gilda/Rigoletto at the Scottish Opera and at Operaen i Kristiansund Festiviteten (in Norwegian), Königin der Nacht/Die Zauberflöte at the Norwegian Opera, Oslo. She also performed multiple concerts at the chamber music festival “Kammermusikk i Stavern”, performed Bach’s B minor Mass with Collegium Musicum Bergen, Brahms’ Requiem with Paulikor and Oslofjord Kammerfilharmoni, exerpts from Der Rosenkavalier in new years concerts with The Danish Radio Orchestra that were broadcasted on live television, and performed a recital of Mozart concert arias and baroque repertoire with Holmens Barokk which was also broadcasted live on Danish radio P2.

Season 2017/2018

Johnson was engaged as Königin der Nacht/Die Zauberflöte at the Norwegian Opera, Oslo, in September/October 2017, Adina/L’elisir d’Amore at Danish National Opera October/November 2017, Queen of the Night/Die Zauberflöte at Opera Trøndelag March/April 2018, Mozart’s Requiem with the Copenhagen Boys Choir, Bach’s St. John Passion with the RTÉ Philharmonic Orchestra Dublin, Grieg’s Peer Gynt and Before a Southern Convent Op.20 with Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Grieg’s German songs Op.48 at Troldhaugen, A bel canto gala concert with Kristiansand Symphonic Orchestra, a christmas concert with Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, and Orff’s Carmina Burana with Jenaer Philharmonie in June 2018.

Season 2016/2017

The artist has performed as Sophie/Der Rosenkavalier at NCPA Beijing; Gilda/Rigoletto at Teatro Verdi di Trieste; Amina/La Sonnambula at Opera Hedeland, Papagena/Die Zauberflöte at Teatro Verdi di Trieste. Her engagements also included: A Swan Lake with the Norwegian Opera, Oslo in March 2017 at Theatre des Champs-Elysées, Paris, Brahms/Ein Deutsches Requiem with Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s Matthew Passion with BBC Philharmonic Manchester, Mozart’s Coronation Mass and a recital with Mozart lieder at the Mozart Festival in Fredrikstad in April 2017, Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and Gershwin songs with The Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces in May 2017, Richard Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder in Stavanger Cathedral, Mozart’s Requiem and Tavener’s Requiem Fragments in Oslo Cathedral and a Recital of Schumann lieder at Oslo Chamber Music Festival.

Highlights from Previous Seasons

Lina has in previous seasons performed the roles of Rosina/Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Adele/Die Fledermaus, Vespetta/Pimpinone; Königin der Nacht/Die Zauberflöte, and The Wife in the new opera Elysium by Rolf Wallin, all at the Norwegian Opera, Oslo.

She performed Clorinda/La Cenerentola and Adele/Die Fledermaus at Teatro Verdi Trieste; Königin der Nacht with Odense Symphony Orchestra, Kristiansand Symphonic Orchestra and Opera Trøndelag. Adina/L’Elisir d’Amore and Gilda/Rigoletto, and Adele/Die Fledermaus at Oscarsborg Operaen. Oscar/Un Ballo in Maschera at Opera Nordfjord; Frasquita/Carmen at Trondheim Symphonic Orchestra. Musetta/La Bohème, Despina/Cosí fan tutte and Najade/Ariadne auf Naxos at the Royal Danish Opera Copenhagen, Violetta Valery/La Traviata at Copenhagen Opera Festival, Handel’s Messiah with Malmö Symphony Orchestra.

Lina has worked with conductors like Enrique Mazzola, Daniele Callegari, Carlo Rizzi, Paolo Carignani, Fabrizio Maria Carminati, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Christian Badea, Keri-Lynn Wilson, Edward Gardner, Rumon Gamba, Marc Soustrot, Alexander Joël, Michael Boder, Friedemann Layer, Simon Gaudenz, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, Nicholas Kraemer, Ivan Anguélov, George Petrou, Pierre Bleuse, Pedro Halffter Caro, Esa Heikillä, Baldur Brönnimann, Krzysztof Urbànski, Christian Eggen, Rafael Payare, Phillip Faber, Christian Kluxen, Rune Bergmann and Thomas Søndergård.

She has worked with stage directors like Robert Carsen, Damiano Michieletto, Stefan Herheim, Guy Joosten, Gilbert Deflo, Jean-Louis Grinda, Valentina Carrasco, Rodula Gaitanou, David Pountney, Daniel Benoin, Francois de Carpentries, Alexander Mørk-Eidem, Ole Anders Tandberg, Stein Winge, Harry Fehr, Philip Kochheim, Matthew Richardson, Ronald Rørvik, Mira Bartov, Runar Hodne, and Jacopo Spirei.

EDUCATION

In 2006 Lina Johnson finished her bachelor degree in classical singing at the Norwegian State Academy of Music in Oslo. She commenced studies at The Royal Danish Music Academy in Copenhagen, working with vocal teacher Susanna Eken and pianists like Roger Vignoles, Helmut Deutsch and Rudolf Jansen, completing her master’s degree in 2008 with highest possible grade. She finished her opera studies at the Royal Danish Opera Academy in 2011 where she worked with coaches like Rachel Andrist, Fiona MacSherry, Mikael Eliasen, Christian Badea and Martin Isepp, still having Susanna Eken as her main vocal teacher.

AWARDS

Lina Johnson was awarded the Shipowner Tom Wilhelmsen Foundation’s Opera & Ballet Prize in 2023 for an outstanding artistic achievement. She was awarded Leonie Sonnings music prize in 2008, and the Dream Scholarship from Norway’s national music school funds in 2005. She won 2nd prize in the Kokkola Nordic Lied competition in Finland in 2007, was nominated for the Wigmore Hall Kohn Opera Voice Fellowship in 2011, and was a finalist in the Wilhelm Stenhammar International Singing Competition in 2012. In 2010 she attended the Mozart residency at the Aix-en-Provence festival, singing the role of Serpetta/La finta Giardiniera broadcasted live on the Arte tv channel.