Soprano Holly Boaz is praised by critics for her “lovely soprano” (Quad City Times), “well-defined” characterizations (Saginaw News), and “crowd-pleasing” performances (Midland Daily News).  Seattle Gay News had this to say about her performance in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with Pacific MusicWorks and GRAMMY award winning conductor, Stephen Stubbs: "Soprano Holly Boaz sang the pivotal role of Belinda, Dido's lady in waiting, with a lilting soprano and a vivid stage presence that urged the shy prince to 'pursue thy conquest love.' When it came time to switch sides in the second scene and become a witch, Boaz cackled gleefully over Dido's fate with equal commitment and effectiveness."  She was lauded by CityArts Online for “excellent acting and singing” and by the Seattle Times for her “expertly sung” performances as First Lady (Erste Dame) in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.

 

Ms. Boaz enjoys a varied career in opera, oratorio, chamber and choral music.  ​Career highlights include solo debuts with the Seattle Symphony in Mozart’s Requiem and with Tacoma Opera as Eurydice in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, a solo recital for the 60th Aldeburgh Festival in England, her Canadian debut with the Vancouver Early Music Festival in Handel's Israel and Egypt, and a tour of Cambridgeshire and Canterbury with Caritas Chamber Choir in the UK.  Recent performances include Messiah with Symphony Tacoma, Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro with Vashon Opera, a recital of Bartók’s Hungarian Folk Songs with Vashon Chamber Music, and Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte with Pacific MusicWorks in Seattle.

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Of her over 30 operatic roles, favorites include Donna Anna and Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Mimì and Musetta (La Bohème), Susanna, the Countess, and Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro), La Contessa di Folleville (Il viaggio a Rheims), Berta (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), The Governess (Turn of the Screw), Female Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia), and Micaëla (Carmen). She has appeared on the stages of Seattle Opera, Connecticut Opera, Tacoma Opera, Hudson Opera Theatre, Aspen Music Festival, Quad Cities Opera, The Seattle, Tacoma, Adrian, Midland, and Hartford Symphonies, Taconic Opera, Center City Opera in Philadelphia, and Music Academy of the West. She has performed solo recitals with the Aldeburgh Festival in England, The Russian Chamber Music Foundation of Seattle, Vashon Chamber Music, PLU Artist Series, Saugerties Pro Musica in New York State, and on tour throughout Eastern Washington as a winner of the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle Competition. She has been a member of several professional ensembles, including The Emerald Ensemble, Tacoma Early Music, Canonici, Regency Voices, Les Chanterelles, and Caritas Chamber Choir in England, and she spent two seasons as the Resident Soprano at Seattle Choral Company, working as a soloist and coaching singers in the ensemble.

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Ms. Boaz is a past winner of the Northwest Region of the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award Competition. She was a finalist at the Palm Beach Opera Competition, and an encouragement award winner from the CT District of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Music, where she was honored as a Hilldale Undergraduate Fellow.  She holds an M.M. from The Hartt School, where she was the recipient of the Berkowitz Opera Scholarship and worked as a Teaching Assistant 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.  She counts among her mentors and teachers such illustrious performers and pedagogues as Jane Eaglen, Vinson Cole, Carol Vaness, Marilyn Horne, and Peter Kazaras.