BIOGRAPHY
"Joanna Mongiardo, who has a voice of impressive size and warmth, as well as a technique with ornament…. brought the hall to its feet…"
- John Yohalem, OPERA TODAY
Joanna Mongiardo has been lauded for her “smooth, plummy, seamlessly blended soprano and fluid coloratura,” (BachTrack) in operatic and orchestral performances worldwide. The soprano was recently recognized as “a triumph” by Opera News for her portrayal of Rosalina in Teatro Gratticielo’s Il Re at Lincoln Center, and The Boston Globe wrote about Boston Midsummer Opera’s L’elisir d’amore, "Joanna Mongiardo’s Adina delivered with style and luster."
In 2022, Mongiardo celebrated the release of her first solo album, Evermore on Crossover Records, recorded live at Opera America.
In the fall of 2023, she made her highly anticipated return to New York City Opera to star as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette. Earlier in the year, she performed as the soprano soloist in Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Symphony of Westchester. In recent seasons Mongiardo has brought the “energy and charm [of] her delicious Blonde" (ForumOpera Magazine) to more than thirty performances of Die Entführung aus dem Serail, including productions at Grande Théâtre de Genève, Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur, and Deutsche Oper am Rhein – the company with whom she began her professional career and has performed numerous leading roles including Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, Nannetta in Falstaff, and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro.
Mongiardo has been seen on concert stages from Bellingham, Washington, to Shanghai, China, and has performed her signature role as soloist in Carmina Burana with more than fifteen orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, and Oratorio Society of New York.
She made her debut with Charis Chamber Voices in Schubert's Mirjams Siegesgesang in May 2022; performed in recital with Novus NY; was heard as the soloist in Handel’s Messiah at with the National Chorale in 2021; and has performed works by Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Mahler and Schumann with the symphonies of Pittsburgh, San Diego, Indianapolis, Oregon, and Greater Bridgeport, and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de México, under the batons of Charles Dutoit, Philippe Auguin, Jonathan Darlington, John Fiore, Leopold Hager, Neemi Jarvi, JoAnn Falletta and Carlos Miguel Prieto. In the fall of 2019, she was invited to perform as a part of New York City Opera’s 75th Anniversary celebration.
Mongiardo maintains a reputation for “her acting and rock-solid technique” (Boston Music Intelligencer), and counts among her career highlights her Dallas Opera debut as Brigitta in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta; and singing the roles of La Prima Elfe in Respighi’s La campagna sommersa with New York City Opera; Fata Azzurra in Respighi’s La bella addormentata nel bosco with Teatro Grattacielo; Cinna in Mozart's Lucio Silla with Odyssey Opera; Juliette in Roméo et Juliette with Dayton Opera and Madison Opera; Anne Trulove in The Rake’s Progress with Toledo Opera; and the title roles of Rossini’s Semiramide with Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur and Flotow’s Martha with Boston Midsummer Opera.
At Central City Opera, Mongiardo has been seen in the roles of Eurydice in Orpheus in the Underworld, Thérèse in Les Mamelles de Tirésias, and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi. There, she also sang the title role in the company’s 50th Anniversary production of The Ballad of Baby Doe.
Joanna earned her music degree from the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University and a master's degree from Yale. She lives in Chappaqua, New York, where she is an active community member, loves cooking and cultivating her Italian and Greek-Armenian roots, and cherishes time spent with her family
