Erin Wagner
Mezzo-Soprano
American mezzo-soprano, Erin Wagner, is passionate about vocal music which represents modern and diverse perspectives. As the winner of the 2021 Naumburg Foundation Vocal Award she made her Carnegie Hall recital debut in a program entitled But how things change which explored both collective and individual experiences brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic through the music of Edie Hill, Fauré, Ravel, Errollyn Wallen, Shawn Chang, and Mahler. Alongside the Naumburg Foundation, Erin commissioned Errollyn Wallen to compose a cycle for her entitled JOY which will be premiered in 2023.
Erin recently joined the esteemed Houston Grand Opera Studio where she made her debut as Jack in Dame Ethyl Smyth’s The Wreckers and will perform in Le Nozze di Figaro (Barbarina) and Salome (Page) in addition to recital work and scenes from Pélleas et Mélisande (Mélisande) and Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (Frau Reich).
Erin was named a Winner of the 2022 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, where she will continue to focus on her work as a recitalist, chamber musician, concert artist, and in community outreach as well as make debuts at The Kaufman Center and at The Kennedy Center. During her time at the 2022 Merola Opera Program, Erin won the Schwabacher Recital Debut Auditions alongside her collaborative partner, Shawn Chang. The duo will return to San Francisco Opera to give their recital debut in a program entitled Everything Must Change, which is a call to action as proclaimed through the music of Shawn Chang, Molly Joyce, Schubert, Caplet, Mahler, Radiohead, and Bernard Ighner. Erin returns to Aspen Music Festival as a Renée Fleming Artist in 2023 to portray the role of Idamante in Idomeneo with Robert Spano and to perform the orchestrated songs of Schubert under the baton of Nicholas McGegan.
Erin is passionate about making our art form and the spaces in which we share our art accessible to all. She commissioned Shawn Chang to compose Marty’s Letter utilizing text from her father’s childhood depicting his life with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (a very rare and debilitating bone disorder) and partnered with David Clay Mettens to create The Sustaining Air, a song cycle set to text by Larry Eigner, a poet of the Beat Generation who lived with cerebral palsy and whose output was largely impacted by his physical point of view from his wheelchair.
Erin received her Master’s Degree from The Juilliard School where she won the Juilliard Vocal Arts Honors Recital with Shawn Chang in a program entitled Life in Color featuring the music of Shawn Chang and Peter Lieberson, she performed with Brian Zeger in Juilliard Songfest twice as a recitalist sharing the music of Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, and Gustav Mahler, and she was a Gluck Community Service Fellow with a focus on sharing music by women and bringing joy and connection to those who needed it most.
Erin’s Bachelor Degree is from The Manhattan School of Music where she performed in Warren Jones’ Seminar and in Albert Herring (Mrs. Herring). In 2022 she attended Merola Opera Program where she reprised Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte and performed in scenes from Ariadne auf Naxos (Der Komponist), Carmen (Mercédès), and Ainadamar (Niña A). While at Aspen Music Festival and School as Renée Fleming Artist in 2021 she took on the roles of Zweite Dame and Knabe in Die Zauberflöte and Unulfo in Rodelinda as well as scenes from Cosí Fan Tutte (Dorabella), La clemenza di Tito (Annio), and Semele (Ino).
Erin previously studied at Renée Fleming’s SongStudio at Carnegie Hall (2021), The Chautauqua Institution (2019), SongFest as a Colburn Fellow (2018), and Matthew Rose’s Scuola di Bel Canto (2018). She currently studies with Dr. Stephen King and has previously studied with Darrell Babidge and Joan Patenaude-Yarnell.
2022 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Audition Prizes:
- The University of Florida Performing Arts Prize
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YCA represents mezzo-soprano Erin Wagner for worldwide engagements. Please contact us for more information.