Olivia Boen

Last season, Boen made a number of significant debuts, including Mrs Naidoo in a new production of Glass’s Satyagraha in her return to Opéra national de Paris, her house debut for Oper Köln as Gretel in Humperdink’s Hänsel und Gretel and a house and role debut as Mimi in Puccini’s La bohème with Opera North. Boen returned to the Staatsoper Hamburg as Gretel Hänsel und Gretel. Other recent operatic highlights have included Alice in Verdi’s Falstaff at Opéra national de Paris, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte for Detroit Opera, and a trio of Mozart role debuts for the Staatsoper Hamburg: Servilia in La clemenza di Tito, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and Sifare in Mitridate, re di Ponto.

Boen’s recent concert plans have included her debut with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra as Fourth Maid in Strauss’ Elektra (Alan Gilbert), Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem at Hauptkirche St. Jacobi Hamburg (Gerhard Löffler), Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (Nil Venditti), Britten’s Les Illuminations with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y Leon (Mark Wigglesworth) the UK premiere of Hans Abrahamsen’s Two Inger Christensen Songs with the Philharmonia Orchestra (Chloe Rooke), concert performances as Annina in Verdi’s La Traviata with Le Cercle de l'Harmonie at the Philharmonie de Paris (Jérémie Rhorer), the title role Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Sir Andrew Davis) and Dvořák’s Stabat Mater with the Grant Park Music Festival.

Until the 23/24 season, Boen was a member of the Opernstudio at the Staatsoper Hamburg where she sang Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Musetta in La bohème and Anna in Nabucco, in addition to creating the roles of Xenia in Frank Castorf’s new production of Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov and Inez in Immo Karamon’s new production of Verdi’s Il trovatore. Boen made her European debut at the Verbier Festival under the baton of Valery Gergiev as Die Stimme des Falken in Strauss’ Die Frau Ohne Schatten and as Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte with Stanislav Kochanovsky.

Boen has given recitals at Wigmore Hall, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the London Song Festival, Opera Holland Park, the Verbier Festival, LSO St. Luke’s, the Dame Myra Hess Recital Series, the Ravinia Festival and toured with the Oxford International Song Festival. Olivia has collaborated on outreach projects with the London Symphony Orchestra and Opera Holland Park, was a member of the Wigmore Hall French Song Exchange led by Dame Felicity Lott and François le Roux, was a Samling Artist, a 2021 City Music Foundation Artist and a Steans Music Institute vocal fellow at the Ravinia Festival.

Boen was awarded the English Song Prize from the London Song Festival in 2019, first place (Lynne Cooper Harvey Foundation Award) of the Musicians Club of Women Competition in 2018, a grant from the Frank Huntington Beebe Fund for Musicians in 2018, and first place at the Tuesday Musical Competition in 2017.
Boen trained at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she was a 2021 Gold Medal finalist, and has completed additional training at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Verbier Festival, Internationale Meistersinger Akademie and the Ravinia Steans Music Institute.

2026/27 season / 616 words. Not to be altered without permission.