TIFFANY TOWNSEND soprano

Tiffany Townsend has been praised for her “powerhouse soprano and expressive presence” (The Wall Street Journal) and “rich voice and interpretive talent” (Bachtrack). Her 2022–2023 season includes a return to LA Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program, where she makes role debuts as Julie (cover; Omar), Lucia (The Rape of Lucretia), and Desdemona (cover, Otello). Ms. Townsend also makes a role and house debut as Idleness in Long Beach Opera’s The Romance of the Rose (world premiere) and a role debut as Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) at Wolf Trap Opera. On the concert stage, she performs as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra), Verdi’s Requiem (Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra), Fauré’s Requiem and George Walker’s Lilacs (New Jersey Symphony), and will reprise George Walker’s Lilacs with the National Orchestral Institute + Wolf Trap Opera.

 

The 2021–2022 season saw Ms. Townsend’s role debut as Ines (Leonora cover) in LA Opera’s production of Il trovatore, a return to Opera Philadelphia’s Emerging Artist Program as the featured soloist in George Walker's Lilacs, and a performance of Strauss' Four Last Songs with the Artosphere Festival Orchestra. She also made her Filene Artist debut with Wolf Trap Opera, where she performed Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the National Orchestral Institute. 

 

In the 2020–2021 season, Ms. Townsend made her LA Opera and role debut as Léontine in The Anonymous Lover, as well as her Opera Grand Rapids and role debut as Katherine Tate in Penny. That same season, she received the 2021 Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation.

 

Ms. Townsend spent the summer of 2019 as an Apprentice Artist with Des Moines Metro Opera, where she covered Mimì (La bohème). During the 2019–2020 season, Ms. Townsend was a member of Opera Philadelphia’s Emerging Artist Program, where she made her debut as Princess Ninetta in The Love for Three Oranges. She also joined LA Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program for the 2019–2020 season. Ms. Townsend won the 2019 MONC-New Orleans District; at the Gulf Coast Region finals, she received an Encouragement Award.

 

Additional notable roles in Ms. Townsend’s repertoire include Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Tatyana (Eugene Onegin), First Lady (The Magic Flute), Countess (Le nozze di Figaro), Brenda (Empty the House), Magda (La rondine), and Female Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia).

 

A native of Jackson, MS, Ms. Townsend holds a Professional Studies Certificate in Opera from Curtis Institute of Music, a Master of Music from The Juilliard School, and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Millsaps College.