Bio

Praised for her “silvery, ethereal-sounding Sophie” by Opera magazine and “lovely vocal delicacy” in The Telegraph, Madison Leonard returns to the roles of Gilda in Rigoletto with San Diego Opera, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with Boston Lyric Opera, and Adele in Die Fledermaus with her hometown Inland Northwest Opera. She also makes her role debut as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with Florentine Opera and sings Handel’s Messiah with the Santa Fe Symphony and concerts of opera favorites with the Spokane Symphony and Bozeman Symphony. Last season she made a triumphant role debut as Violetta in La traviata in a return to Garsington Opera. She also made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Frasquita in Carmen and joined the company for its production of Don Giovanni as well as sang Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and Mozart’s Requiem with the Southwest Symphony Orchestra.

She maintains a close relationship with Garsington Opera, at which she has previously sung Adina in L’elisir d’amore, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier and Giulietta di Kelbar in Un giorno di regno. She has joined Seattle Opera for Gilda in Rigoletto and Chrisann Brennan in The [R]evolution of Steve Jobs as well as Adina in L’elisir d’amore and Frasquita in Carmen. She has sung Gilda in Rigoletto with Dallas Opera and Austin Opera—her performance at the latter was named one of the Top Ten Joys in Dance and Classical Music by the Austin Chronicle. She has sung further performances of Chrisann Brennan in Bates’ The [R]evolution of Steve Jobs with Austin Opera and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City; Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice with Dallas Opera; Leïla in Les pêcheurs des perles with Austin Opera; Juliette in Roméo et Juliette with Central City Opera; Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Marie in La fille du régiment and Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance with Utah Opera; Musetta in La bohème with Atlanta Opera; Despina in Così fan tutte with Palm Beach Opera, and further performances of Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance with Opera San Antonio. She also joined the Sacramento Philharmonic for excerpts of Lucia di Lammermoor.

With Wolf Trap Opera, she debuted Ilia in Idomeneo and Juliette in Roméo et Juliette following previous performances as Madeline in Glass’ The Fall of the House of Usher and the Daughter in Glass’ The Juniper Tree. She is a former Cafritz Young Artist of Washington National Opera, at which she sang Morgana in Alcina, the High Priestess in Aida, the Rose in Portman’s The Little Prince, and Little Zegner Sister in Mazzoli’s Proving Up. Other recent highlights for the soprano include Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Inland Northwest Opera, Adele in Die Fledermaus with Opera Idaho, and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with Amarillo Opera.

On the concert stage, she has twice joined the National Symphony Orchestra: her debut with Gianandrea Noseda conducting Stravinsky’s Pulcinella as part of the SHIFT Festival followed by an immediate return soloist in Vaughan William’s Symphony No. 3 (A Pastoral Symphony) under the baton of Sir Mark Elder. She is a frequent guest of the Florida Orchestra and has joined institution for Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Fauré’s Requiem, Haydn’s Creation, further performances of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, and a concert of opera favorites. She sang her first performances of Handel’s Messiah with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, a program of Mozart arias with the Utah Symphony at the Deer Valley Music Festival, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Colburn Orchestra, Fauré’s Requiem with the Apollo Orchestra in Washington, D.C., joined the New York Festival of Song for a program of music from the British Isles at Caramoor and Merkin Hall in New York City, and offered a solo recital at Washington Adventist University.

Ms. Leonard is a 2018 winner of the Metropolitan National Council Auditions, at which she sang arias from Rigoletto and Hänsel und Gretel with Bertrand de Billy conducting. She is a previous first place winner of the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition. Additionally, she received the Women’s Voice Fellowship from the Luminarts Cultural Foundation and scholarships from the Lynn Harvey Foundation and the Musicians Club of Women. The soprano earned her Master of Music degree from Northwestern University and her Bachelor of Arts from Pepperdine University. She is a former participant of the Merola Opera Program in association with San Francisco Opera at which she sang Monica in Menotti’s The Medium and a former young artist of Des Moines Metro Opera.

Raves

“I cannot recall seeing anyone so believably, touchingly, and angrily inhabit the role of Violetta, the consumptive courtesan, as the American soprano Madison Leonard does here. She sings from the heart, with a warm, easy sound, a fine legato and plenty of power where necessary.”
— The Times