Biography

In 2019, Spinto Soprano, Heather Hjelle, starred in the title role of La Gioconda with Opera MODO. Her professional debut was the role of Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana with Main Street Opera in 2017. Early that year, she covered Metropolitan Opera soprano Alexandra LoBianco as Santuzza with Opera Steamboat. That same year, Heather traveled to Italy to perform the role of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Operafestival di Roma.

 Previous roles include Suor Angelica (Suor Angelica) with
 Operafestival di Roma. Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Clara
 (Signor Deluso), and La fata verde (La Bella dormant nel
 bosco). Scene credits include Countess Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro)
 Violetta (La Traviata), Mimi (La Bohème), Fiordiligi (Così fan
 tutte), Hanna (Die lustige Witwe), Vanessa (Vanessa), and Cio-Cio-San
 (Madama Butterfly).

 A Minnesota native, Heather earned a degree in Theatre with
 a minor in music from Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato.
 At Bethany, she was a featured performer in numerous plays
 and choral ensembles. In 2016, she received her Masters of
Vocal Performance from North Park University where she won
second place in the Graduate Performance Awards.

Ms. Hjelle was looking forward to returning to Opera Steamboat where she would have covered the role of Ariadne in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, due to COVID, this performance was cancel. In November, she will be performing Dich Teure Halle with the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra, quickly followed by a recital with St. Croix Valley Opera in December. 
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