Biography

 Spinto Soprano, Heather Hjelle, most recently took the stage performing the role of   Gioconda in La Gioconda with Opera MODO. Previously, she made her
  professional debut as 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) with North Park University Opera.
 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 this
summer where she would have covered the role of Ariadne in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos. Her concert with the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra is  to be rescheduled in 2021. 

---