Biography

American dramatic soprano Leah Crowne is known for her powerful voice with an "icy intensity" (Bergens Tidende, Bergen Norway), "generous beauty" (Forum Opera, Bezier France) that "really shines and brings down the house" (Broadway World, NYC). She delivers "fine artistry with musical precision and sensitivity" (Maestro Emmanuel Plasson), and she is a "dream to direct with her vivid characterizations" (Director Anthony Pilavachi).

Ms. Crowne's operatic engagements span across the United States and Europe. She will sing the title role in Strauss' Elektra with United Opera Collaborative in Berlin, Germany in September of 2023, Bruennhilde in Wagner's Siegfried with Gettysburg Winter Festival in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in 2024, and repeat the role of Elektra in Syracuse, NY USA with Chelsea Opera. In the summer of 2024, Ms. Crowne will return to Berlin and the United Opera Collaborative to sing Ortrud in Wagner's Lohengrin. Ms. Crowne sang the demanding role of Isolde in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde with Series at Royal Square in York, PA to high acclaim in the summer of 2023. She has performed the ice princess Turandot numerous times (Opera Bergen, Norway; Opera Susquehanna, Pennsylvania; Opera Company of Middlebury, Vermont; Opera d'Oro, Washington DC; Opera Ft. Collins in Colorado). Her past Wagnerian roles include Ortrud in Lohengrin (Opera Susquehanna), Kundry in Parsifal (the Metropolitan Opera Guild Series at Lincoln Center), Sieglinde in Die Walküre (Resonanz Festival, New York), Isolde in Tristan und Isolde (Series on Royal Square, York, PA). She has also covered and sung the title role of Puccini's Tosca and Elisabeth in the French version of Verdi's Don Carlos with Sarasota Opera, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (Hub Opera, Maryland), Contess in Le nozze di Figaro (Hub Opera), and Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte (Bay Area Summer Opera, San Francisco).

Her concert and oratorio work has included Requiem (Brahms, Duruflé, Mozart, Verdi); Messiah (Handel); Symphonie nr.9 and Choral Fantasy (Beethoven); Petite Messe Solennelle and Stabat Mater (Rossini), and Coronation Mass (Mozart). Ms. Crowne enjoys performing songs and cycles by living composers such as Rachel DeVore Fogerty, Jose Raphael Solis, and Gabriella Frank. She is equally as passionate about traditional art song composers of the past like Margaret Bonds, Samuel Barber, Herbert Howells, Moses Hogan, Franz Schubert, Clara Schumann, and Alba Mahler. 

Ms. Crowne is the recipient of awards, grants, and scholarships from the Académie internationale de musique française, The Dolora Zajick Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, The Max Kade Foundation, The Wagner Society of New York, the Wagner Society of Washington DC, the Voice Foundation of Philadelphia, The Joan Frey Boytim Foundation, The Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart Emerging Artist Series, The Ryan Center at The Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera New Jersey, Sarasota Opera, The Metropolitan Opera Guild Series, Bay Area Summer Opera Theater, the Mediterranean Opera Studio, and The National Association of Teachers of Singing.