BRITTANY RENEE
SOPRANO
BIOGRAPHY
Renowned for her “luminous tones” and “opulent voice,” and celebrated by Opera News for her “plush soprano bloom,” GRAMMY Award-winning soprano Brittany Renee is enchanting audiences with her exquisite artistry and radiant stage presence. Her performance is a masterclass in sophistication and finesse, affirming her status as a rising star destined for a luminous future.
Last season, Ms. Renee continued to shine, bringing her portrayal of Musetta in La bohème to The Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Houston Grand Opera in her house début. She also graced the Kennedy Center stage with Washington National Opera as Bess in Porgy and Bess and was featured at National Sawdust as Esther in the world premiere of Paola Prestini’s Silent Light. On the concert stage, Ms. Renee appeared as the soprano soloist in Brahm’s Requiem with the New York Philharmonic, Sanctuary Road with the Buffalo Philharmonic, in Lara Bolton's fusion project Voxspex, and sang Gala Concert in Memory of John Paul II at Merkin Hall.
This season, Brittany Renee is poised to continue dazzling the operatic world, solidifying her position as one of the most compelling voices of her generation. Following her run at Washington National Opera, Ms. Renne will make a highly anticipated return to The Metropolitan Opera as her esteemed Bess in Porgy and Bess. In addition, she will return to San Francisco Opera for her portrayals of Sister Rose in Dead Man Walking and Musetta in La bohème, before joining Florentine Opera for her role début as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.
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In recent seasons, Ms. Renee captivated audiences with her role and house début at the San Francisco Opera as Julie in the groundbreaking opera Omar, a collaboration between Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels. She also made a striking return to The Metropolitan Opera, where she portrayed Destiny, Loneliness, and Greta in Terence Blanchard and Kasi Lemmons’ Fire Shut Up in My Bones and covered Micaëla in Carmen. The season concluded with a stunning house début at Opera Theatre of St. Louis as Musetta in La bohème. Additionally, she had the honor of performing in a special benefit concert at The Metropolitan Opera, celebrating Stephen Schwartz's 75th birthday alongside illustrious stars from Broadway, Hollywood, and the operatic world.
Ms. Renee made her Lyric Opera of Chicago début in the leading roles of Destiny, Loneliness, and Greta in Terence Blanchard and Kasi Lemmons’ Fire Shut Up in My Bones, earning praise from Chicago Classical Review, which described her performance as “uniformly excellent from top to bottom.” This followed her Metropolitan Opera début as Evelyn in their acclaimed production of the opera. Critics lauded her portrayal of Evelyn, with Gabrielle Ferrari of Parterre Box noting it “offered an uplifting lightness, a lovely, crystalline soprano that was all youthful excitement—more from her, please!” and David Salazar of OperaWire acclaiming her performance as having “masterfully oozed vocal and physical sensuality.”
Renee also portrayed Annie in The Met’s historic production of Porgy & Bess, which won Best Opera Recording at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. In the summer of 2022, she performed in The Metropolitan Opera’s Summer Recital Series in Central Park and gave a solo recital with The Florentine Opera as part of their Al Fresco Recital Series. Her other notable appearances at The Met include Sadie Griffith in a new production of Terence Blanchard’s Champion, Giannetta in L’elisir d’amore, and Ancella in David McVicar’s new production of Cherubini’s rarely performed Medea. She also participated in their new production of Don Giovanni and revivals of Rigoletto and Peter Grimes.
Highlights of previous seasons include her role début as Micaëla in Carmen with Opera Orlando, the role of Bess in Porgy & Bess at the Teatro Regio Torino, and the soprano soloist in Handel's Messiah at Lincoln Center under the auspices of the National Chorale. International débuts have included performances at the Semperoper Dresden, The Charles Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv, Israel, the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Italy, The Magnetic Opera Festival in Elba, Italy, and Opera on the Avalon in Canada.
Despite myriad cancellations due to COVID-19, Brittany welcomed new and innovative virtual performances. Described by the Wall Street Journal as “an ingenious project,” Ms. Renee was blessed to stretch her contemporary wings in the award-winning world premiere opera series Tales from a Safe Distance with Decameron Opera. Through her voice she brought to life the illustrated role of BOSS in Resonance Works SourDough: Rise Up. In addition, in a new partnership with Thomas Hampson, The Hampsong Foundation, Courtney's Stars of Tomorrow, and the streaming platform IDAGIO, she headlined the concert series Feel the Spirit, dedicated to the study, preservation, and performance of the Negro Spiritual. She also had the pleasure to add vocals to Terence Blanchard's original film score for The Woman King starring Viola Davis and directed by Gina Prince Bythewood.
Concert engagements include performances as a guest artist and model representing the designer PYER MOSS at the CFDA Vogue Fashion Gala, collaborator and jazz soloist with the Minneapolis based group VOXSPEX, a featured artist with the Wynton Marsalis’ U.S. Tour of the Abyssinian Mass with Chorale Le Chateau and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, appearances with the critically acclaimed American Spiritual Ensemble, and a tour with the Siena Chamber Orchestra in Italy. A frequent recitalist, Ms. Renee has performed in her hometown at the University of Minnesota’s Monday Guest Artist Recital Series at the Lloyd Ultan Recital Hall where she also had the privilege to conduct her own masterclass with the students.
Current as of June 16, 2025
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"...honey-rich soprano with brilliant high notes..." – Houston Chronicle
La bohème – "Making her HGO debut, Brittany Renee played the free-spirited and mercurial Musetta with brash but mesmerizing theatricality and a honey-rich soprano with brilliant high notes."
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"...gracious and compassionate..." – Texas Classical Review
La bohème – "Marcello’s tempestuous sometime sweetheart, Musetta, came across as more than the mere flirt she sometimes seems, thanks to soprano Brittany Renee...Yes, Renee delivered parts of Musetta’s “Waltz Song” with flashiness and abandon. But the waltz’s opening had an aria of sweetness, as if Musetta were showing that charisma takes more than one form...And in the finale, Renee’s Musetta took on an entirely different aura, gracious and compassionate with the dying Mimì."
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"Impressive, showing a lush lyric soprano that especially shone during her solo 'Saria possible.'" – OperaWire
L’elisir d’amore – "In the role of Giannetta, Brittany Renee was impressive, showing a lush lyric soprano that especially shone during her solo 'Saria possible.' She sang this passage with staccato phrases, a quiet piano sound, and gorgeous legato phrases. Her comic timing was sensational as she interacted with the women’s chorus...in the ensembles, her voice also shone, especially in 'Io già m’immagino che cosa brami' where her patter work resonated through all the voices. Her interactions with Schultz were also crucial in helping audiences understand who this character was and why she was always around.”
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"a formidable artist" – Voce di Meche
MET Summerstage – “This was the first time we heard Soprano Brittany Renee and found her to be a formidable artist [...] She rose to the challenge of Violetta's Act I aria from Verdi's La Traviata negotiating the two opposing sides of Violetta's character. In the cabaletta ‘Sempre libera’ we heard some impressive fireworks--just right for a party girl in denial. We don't claim to know anything about jazz but Duke Ellington' "In a Sentimental Mood" sounded just fine to us and illustrated her versatility.”
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"...luscious lyric soprano and magnetic presence..." – Parterre Box
Champion – “Brittany Renee once again shows off a luscious lyric soprano and magnetic presence that promises an exciting career ahead.”
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"...plush soprano blooms thrillingly on top..." – Opera News
Carmen – "Brittany Renee's plush soprano blooms thrillingly on top, especially in her rendition of "Je dis que rien ne m'epouvante," which demonstrates strength rather than fragility."
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"...clear, tender tone..." – NYTimes
Fire Shut Up In My Bones – "Brittany Renee sings the tripartite role at the Met with a clear, tender tone."
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"...more from her please!" – Parterre Box
Fire Shut Up in my Bones – “Brittany Renee as Evelyn offered an uplifting lightness, a lovely, crystalline soprano that was all youthful excitement, more from her please!"
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"... oozed vocal and physical sensuality..." – OperaWire
Fire Shut Up in my Bones – "...masterfully oozed vocal and physical sensuality."
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"...sang in luminous tones about her own gorgeousness." – South Florida Classical Review
La boheme – “As the beautiful Musetta, Brittany Renee Robinson gave an assured performance that communicated desirability and jealousy without the stock, over-the-top diva gestures that so often accompany this role. In Musetta’s Waltz she caressed an embarrassed waiter and sang in luminous tones about her own gorgeousness."
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"Renee...displays the requisite range of confident liveliness and flamboyance with a touch of naughtiness" – PoplifeSTL
La boheme – “Brittany Renee achieves another bit of opera theater magic in the final act. In the first three, Renee delivers a Musetta who displays the requisite range of confident liveliness and flamboyance with a touch of naughtiness (Café Momus, anybody?). But it’s her act of kindness toward Mimi in the fourth act that most humanizes the character. Renee’s compassion adds genuine depth to the role."
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"...conveyed with regal sorrow..." – Orlando Sentinel
Le nozze di Figaro – “nicely captures the Countess’s sadness, poignant among the frivolity and conveyed with regal sorrow by the excellent Brittany Renee.”
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"...a vocally expressive voice of inherent beauty, incorporating a soft, beautiful vibrato..." – William Burnett, Opera Warhorses
Omar – “Minnesota soprano Brittany Renee displayed a vocally expressive voice of inherent beauty, incorporating a soft, beautiful vibrato. Renee’s artistry showed brilliantly in Julie’s affecting aria My Daddy Wore a Cap Like Yours, when Julie recognized that Omar is wearing a Muslim prayer-cap.”