Betsy Horne

Since her sensational debut in the title role of Leoš Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová at the 2014 Spoleto Festival USA — where the Wall Street Journal praised her “big, potent soprano” and the New York Times lauded her “excellent performance” — California-born Betsy Horne has established herself as an internationally acclaimed dramatic soprano of the highest caliber.

Her recent operatic highlights feature celebrated performances at the Aalto-Theater Essen, where she starred as Claire Devon in the German premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s The Listeners and returned to her signature role as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier. Additionally, she appeared on the Aalto stage as Die Tochter in Paul Hindemith’s Cardillac (a revival of Guy Joosten’s Opera Vlaanderen production). On the concert stage, Betsy debuted as the soprano soloist in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at the Kölner Philharmonie. Looking ahead to the current season, she will make a highly anticipated return to Landestheater Coburg to sing in Der Ring an einem Abend.

Other recent milestones include Betsy‘ debut at the Bayreuther Festspiele as a Blumenmädchen and Erster Knappe in Jay Scheib’s production of Parsifal. Her extensive repertoire features roles as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes at the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater, the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Salzburger Landestheater, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser at Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, and Sieglinde, Third Norn, Freia, and Gutrune in Uwe-Eric Laufenberg’s Ring cycle at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden.

During her early ensemble years at Landestheater Coburg, she solidified her jugendlich-dramatic soprano repertoire with roles such as Elsa, Mimì, Desdemona, and the title role in Die Csárdásfürstin. In recognition of her artistic achievements, she was awarded the prestigious Bayerischer Kunstförderpreis by the Bavarian State Government in 2012.

Past seasons have included her debut as the Marschallin at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and a critically acclaimed turn as Arabella at Oper Leipzig under Ulf Schirmer, which earned her a „Singer of the Year“ nomination by Opernwelt magazine. She has performed the Marschallin in Klagenfurt, Halle, Coburg, Essen, and Wiesbaden. Forays into Russian repertoire have included Emma in Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina at Theater Basel and Volkhova in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sadko at Opera Vlaanderen.

An accomplished concert artist, her projects with the Robert Schumann Philharmonie Chemnitz, the Stuttgarter Philharmonie, and other international venues include Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder, Brahms‘ Deutsches Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elias, Barber’s Knoxville Summer of 1915, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, and Paul Hindemith’s Hin und Zurück. She is featured in the title role of the only complete recording of Kálmán’s Gräfin Mariza under Ernst Theis with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester.

Betsy Horne has sung under the baton of distinguished conductors including Pablo Heras-Casado, Ulf Schirmer, Will Humburg, Cornelius Meister, Patrick Lange, Jakub Hrůša, Andrea Sanguineti, Fabrice Bollon, Alexander Soddy, Michael Güttler, Alexander Joel, Dimitri Jurowski, Ernst Theis, and Roland Kluttig. She has collaborated with visionary directors including Guy Joosten, Anna-Sophie Mahler, Uwe-Eric Laufenberg, Konstanze Lauterbach, Jay Scheib, Carlos Wagner, Walter Sutcliffe, and Alessandro Talevi. Betsy completed her vocal studies in Missouri and Kansas, and at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, transitioning from mezzo-soprano to soprano during her first fest engagement at Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden.