Emily Pogorelc

Full Biography

American soprano Emily Pogorelc is praised by critics and audiences alike for her soaring, unique voice and captivating stage presence. Pogorelc has firmly established herself in a thriving career, consistently dazzling on many of the world’s top stages. In her 2024 Metropolitan Opera debut, Pogorelc “astonished in every way imaginable…[she] filled the stage with…a fantastic lyric coloratura, bright and crystalline. Her movement was filled with great flexibility and charisma…she lit up the stage every time…” (OperaWire).

Emily Pogorelc begins the 2026/27 season with a company debut at Deutsche Oper Berlin in one of her signature roles, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, which she reprises at the Metropolitan Opera later in the season. Following last season’s acclaimed house debut, she returns to the Vienna State Opera as Adina in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, makes her role debut as Konstanze in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Bayerische Staatsoper under Patrick Lange, and a house and role debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden as Despina in Netia Jones’ new production of Così fan tutte, conducted by Thomas Hengelbrock.

On the concert stage, Pogorelc begins her 2026/27 engagements with a European tour alongside the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra under Keri-Lynn Wilson, performing Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and the National Concert Hall in Dublin. She subsequently appears with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Rossini’s Stabat Mater, sings Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Natahlie Stutzmann, joins the Rheingau Musik Festival for Orff’s Carmina Burana, and reunites with Rolando Villazón for several gala concerts.

The 2025/26 season alone brought no less than five role debuts: the title role of Marie in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro at Dutch National Opera, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier at Opernhaus Zürich, Nannetta in Falstaff at the Wiener Staatsoper, and Leïla in a concert performance of Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles with Washington Concert Opera. At the Metropolitan Opera, Pogorelc has appeared as Lisette in Puccini’s La rondine, Musetta in La bohème and Pamina in The Magic Flute, in Julie Taymor’s classic holiday presentation. Additionally in the US, Pogorelc reprised Musetta for Dallas Opera, sang Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and was heard as Cunegonde in Bernstein’s Candide for Washington National Opera. Her Violetta Valéry in La traviata has been heard at Detroit Opera and Semperoper Dresden, where she has also appeared as Amina in a new production of La sonnambula and, most recently, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette. Pogorelc sang Pamina in Rolando Villazón’s new production of Die Zauberföte at the 2026 Salzburg Mozartweek Festival and Santander International Festival and performed the title role in Mozart’s Il re pastore with Camerata Salzburg on the occasion of the piece’s 250^th anniversary in 2025.

As a member of the Bayerische Staatsoper ensemble from 2020 to 2024, Pogorelc’s acclaimed portrayals include Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Ilia in Idomeneo, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Adina in L‘elisir d‘amore, Xenia in Boris Godunov, and Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel. With the Royal Danish Opera, she made her company and role debut singing Servilia in La clemenza di Tito, a role which also served as the vehicle for her debut with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.

Engagements in concert, a pillar of Pogorelc’s career, include recent appearances with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic under Manfred Honeck in an all-Strauss programme and her Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra debut, also under Honeck, as soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah. She also performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Royal Danish Orchestra under Marie Jacquot. Further highlights include Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra under Bertrand de Billy and her solo recital debut with Vocal Arts DC at the Kennedy Center, and a London concert with The Mozartists under Ian Page, released by Signum Classics on Sturm und Drang, Vol. 3. In addition to the Salzburg Mozartweek, Pogorelc has appeared at the Salzburg Festival and Easter Festival, performing Mendelssohn’s Elias under Maxim Emelyanychev, Mozart arias with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg and Roberto González-Monjas and Mozart’s Requiem with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg under Pablo Heras-Casado.

Pogorelc has received prizes from Placido Domingo’s Operalia, the inaugural Glyndebourne Opera Cup, the Gerda Lissner Foundation, Opera Index, the Hal Leonard Art Song Competition, and the Dominick Argento Competition. A graduate of the Curtis Institute, Pogorelc was a participant in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center, and a member of the Ensemble of the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. The soprano is a proud native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

© CSAM, August 2026