Holly Boaz is praised by critics for her “rich soprano”, “well-defined” characterizations, and “crowd-pleasing” performances. She is the 2010 Winner of both the Western Washington District and the Northwest Region of the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award Competition. In recent seasons, she has performed leading roles with Connecticut Opera, Tacoma Opera, Aspen Music Festival, Seattle Opera Young Artists Program, Quad Cities Opera, Music Academy of the West, Taconic Opera, Center City Opera, Hudson Opera Theater, Hartt Opera Theater, The Bardavon (New York), and Vashon Opera. Her roles include Mimì and Musetta (La Bohème), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), Micaëla (Carmen and The Tragedy of Carmen), Despina (Così fan tutte), Donnas Anna and Elvira (Don Giovanni), Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Susanna and the Countess (Le nozze di Figaro), Alice Ford (Falstaff), Violetta (La Traviata). The Governess (Turn of the Screw), Female Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia) and Berta (Il Barbiere di Siviglia). She can be heard on the Naxos label as the Sparrow in Krasá’s children’s opera, Brundibár, with Gerard Schwarz and Music of Remembrance.
Ms. Boaz is equally at home on the concert stage, whether in front of a symphony orchestra, a chamber ensemble, or a piano. She has performed as a featured soloist with the Seattle Symphony, Hartford Symphony, Bellevue Philharmonic, Midland Symphony, Hartt Symphony, Kirkland Choral Society, New Haven Chorale, Bellevue Chamber Chorus, and Cappella Festiva. Her concert repertoire includes the Bach Magnificat and Mass in B minor, Barber Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Handel Messiah and Theodora, Haydn Theresienmesse, The Seasons, and The Creation, Mahler Symphony no. 4, Mendelssohn Elijah and Lobgesang, Mozart Requiem, Coronation Mass, and Exultate Jubilate, and Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony and Dona nobis pacem. She is a dedicated recitalist, having studied and performed at the Britten-Pears Programme in Aldeburgh, England, and at the Art Song Festival at Baldwin-Wallace College (formerly the Cleveland Art Song Festival). She has been a guest artist in recital for the Russian Chamber Music Foundation of Seattle, the Adrian Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Lutheran University, the University of Puget Sound, the Saugerties Pro Musica Series in New York, and the Midland Symphony Showcase Series in Michigan. In 2007, she was one of only two singers invited to perform in a Britten-Pears Alumni Recital as part of the 60th Aldeburgh Festival in Suffolk, UK. Also in 2007, as a winner of the LMC Seattle competition, she toured Eastern Washington in recital with violinist Rebecca Hunter.
Numerous organizations have honored her with grants and awards including the Connecticut District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Schubert Club, the Richardson Awards, the Sun Valley Opera Competition, and the Washington State Arts Council‘s Professional Development Assistance Program. Ms. Boaz is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Music, where she was the recipient of a Hilldale Undergraduate Fellowship. She holds an M.M. from The Hartt School, where was the recipient of the Berkowitz Opera Scholarship and worked as a T.A. in the voice department. She won fellowships to study and perform at the Aspen Music Festival and at the Music Academy of the West, and is a graduate of the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program. She pursued further specialized studies in Russian song at the Britten-Pears Programme in England, and in the music of the early baroque with Stephen Stubbs and Nancy Zylstra at the Accademia d’amore in Seattle, and on full scholarship at the Baroque Performance Institute at Oberlin College, where she worked with Nancy Zylstra, Penelope Jensen, and William Sharp. In addition to her busy performing schedule, Ms. Boaz serves as adjunct faculty in the music department of Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington.