Joyce DiDonato

The mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato was born in 1969 in Kansas into an Irish American family. She first studied at Wichita State University and later at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. She gained international recognition in 1998, when she won the George London Competition and the second prize at the Operalia Competition. She subsequently received invitations to many major stages, including in London, Paris, Vienna, Madrid, Milan, and Berlin, and above all to the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where she has appeared nearly 150 times since her debut in 2005, most recently in the spring of 2026 in the New York premiere of Innocence by Kaija Saariaho. Joyce DiDonato’s repertoire extends from the Baroque — especially the operas of George Frideric Handel — through Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the bel canto repertoire, and French Romanticism to Richard Strauss (Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier), Leoš Janáček (The Cunning Little Vixen), and contemporary works such as Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking and Kevin Puts’s The Hours. As a concert singer, she has appeared at prominent occasions such as the Last Night of the Proms and the New Year’s Eve concert of the Berliner Philharmoniker. She also appears regularly in recitals, as for example in her acclaimed performances of Winterreise. DiDonato often designs programs around particular themes, including her award-winning projects In War and Peace (2016) and Eden (2022). This is closely linked to her social and political engagement as what she herself calls an “activist.” She advocates for prisoners, refugees, and environmental protection. In Greece she initiated the training project “El Sistema Greece,” and she serves as a global ambassador for “World Voice”; she also leads the Lullaby Project at Carnegie Hall. In the United States, she has received both the Beverly Sills Award and the Richard Tucker Award; she has also won three Grammy Awards for her recordings and, in 2018, the Olivier Award.

August 2026