~ photo by Brian Hatton ~

Welcome

Soprano, Lisa Williamson, is a young artist who has forged a distinctive career that has taken her from the stages of Minato Mirai Hall in Yokohama, Japan to the Indianapolis Brickyard.

Ms. Williamson makes her debut this season at the Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman, as Maud Dunlop in The Music Man and participates in The Song Continues with the Weill Institute at Carnegie Hall. She returns to the Glimmerglass Festival this summer to sing the Soprano in David Lang's Pulitzer Prize-winning piece, the little match girl passion. Recent performance highlights include Maud Dunlop in The Music Man at the Glimmerglass Festival, Despina in Così fan tutte, Lucia in The Rape of Lucretia, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni all with Yale Opera, Musetta in Act III of La Boheme with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and Eileen Sherwood in Wonderful Town with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, Italy. Active on the concert and recital stages she has performed soprano solos in repertoire ranging from Mozart’s Requiem to Robert Kapilow’s Green Eggs and Ham with the Heritage Recital Series, Columbia Recital Series, The Coast Guard Band Chamber Players, at the Midwest Clinic, and the Wesleyan University Recital Series.

From 2005-2010, Ms. Williamson was the vocal soloist with The United States Coast Guard Band. In this versatile and high-profile position she sang for Presidents, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and all Secretaries of the Department of Homeland Security. She performed at the state funeral of President Gerald Ford and was featured in the 2009 National Cherry Blossom Festival. In 2006 and 2007 she performed the National Anthem at the Indianapolis 500 for live audiences of over 400,000 people. In her more than two hundred performances with the Coast Guard Band she performed in thirty-four states in the U.S. and in Japan singing patriotic songs, opera arias, classical chamber works, and the American Songbook. She is featured on six Coast Guard Band recordings including the 2009 release, Live in Japan, and 2008's Baby, It's Cold Outside.

Ms. Williamson earned a Master of Music in voice at the Yale School of Music in 2012, a Performer's Certificate from the University of Connecticut, and a Bachelor of Music in voice performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University. She has been a young artist at The Glimmerglass Festival, Chautauqua Opera, and Connecticut Opera. Ms. Williamson has been a finalist in competitions with the Connecticut Opera Guild, Annapolis Opera, the Philharmonic Society of Arlington, and Lakes Region Opera.

Lisa grew up in Alexandria, Virginia and now makes her home in Connecticut with her husband, Adam, who is the tenor saxophonist with the United States Coast Guard Band.