Adrianne Pieczonka

Style: Opera; Classical

Title: Chair in Voice, Glenn Gould School, Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto

Bio:

Adrianne Pieczonka Biography 2024

Internationally celebrated for her interpretations of Wagner, Strauss, Verdi and Puccini heroines, Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka has enjoyed an international operatic career spanning 35 years. After completing her studies at the University of Western Ontario and University of Toronto, she won First Prize at the s-Hertogenbosch Singing Competition in the Netherlands and won First Prize at the Mady Mesplé Competition in France, both in 1988. She began her operatic career at the Vienna Volksoper in1989, and joined the Vienna State Opera in 1991, where she sang a wide repertoire from Mozart to Wagner for three decades. Adrianne has sung leading roles at the world’s most prestigious opera houses, including La Scala Milan, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Paris Opéra de la Bastille, Metropolitan Opera New York, Bavarian State Opera, Dresden Semperoper, Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburg State Opera, Zurich Opera, Maggio Musicale Florence, Teatro Real Madrid, Teatro Regio Torino, Gran Teatro del Liceu Barcelona, Canadian Opera Company, Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, New National Theater Tokyo among many others. Her signature roles include Tosca, The Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier), Chrysothemis (Elektra) , Ariadne, Arabella, Senta (Der Fliegender Holländer) , Sieglinde (Die Walküre) , Amelia (Un ballo in Maschera) and Elisabetta (Don Carlo).

Adrianne has performed at the prestigious Bayreuth Festival, singing Sieglinde in Die Walküre in 2006 and 2007 and Senta in The Flying Dutchman in 2012. She has appeared numerous times at the Salzburg Festival (Rosenkavalier, Don Carlo and Fidelio) and at the Glyndebourne Festival (Don Giovanni and Arabella). She made her debut at the Festival d’Aix en Provence in 2013, singing Chrysothemis in Elektra, directed by Patrice Chereau.

Adrianne has performed under Sir Georg Solti, Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Colin Davis, Riccardo Muti, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Christian Thielemann, Franz Welser Möst, Kent Nagano, Kirill Petrenko, Andris Nelsons, Esa Pekka Salonen among many others. Adrianne has performed internationally on many leading concert and recital stages, most recently singing Strauss’ Four Last Songs with the OSM under Alexander Shelley and in recital at the Festival Lanaudière with Michael McMahon. She recently performed Schubert’s Winterreise in recital in Madrid and Toronto.

Her most recent CD, Lyrical Echoes, was released on the Analekta Label in 2021 and features Lieder by Clara Schumann, accompanied by pianist Liz Upchurch.

Adrianne was named Kammesängerin by the Vienna State Opera in 2007, recognizing her artistic contributions to the Vienna Opera House and was named Officer of the Order of Canada in 2008. In 2009 she became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. She was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Conservatory in 2013. Adrianne won a Dora Award in 2004 for her portrayal of Sieglinde in Die Walküre at the Canadian Opera Company. Her Puccini Aria CD won a Juno in 2010 and in 2011 she was awarded the Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award. Adrianne holds Honorary Doctorates from The University of McMaster and The University of Western Ontario. In 2018 Adrianne was featured on a Canadian postage stamp, celebrating outstanding Canadian opera artists. In 2019, Adrianne was appointed Chair in Voice at the Glenn Gould School, Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where she teaches voice and oversees student opera and concert performances. During her tenure, she has been a key fundraiser for the Glenn Gould School, securing several full scholarships for a four year term. Under her leadership, biannual student opera performances have received unanimous praise and acclaim from Opera Canada and other publications. Adrianne is very active as a voice masterclass presenter at many Canadian and international universities and summer voice programs. She regularly consults with young professional singers in Young Artist Programs, most recently at the the Vienna State Opera, the Canadian Opera Company and l’Opéra de Montréal.

Adrianne has been appointed Jury President for the prestigious CMIM Voice (Concours Musicales International de Montréal) in from May 26 to June 2025.

She lives in the Annex, in Toronto.

Voice Type: Soprano

Music Styles Taught: Opera; Classical

Availability: I have a wait-list for private lessons; I accept students through a college or university program

Contact Information