Amy Owens is known for her “high-flying vocals” and “scene-stealing” charisma on operatic and symphonic stages, as well as her innovative, multi-disciplinary pursuits in music and entrepreneurship (Opera News). Her performing career has taken her to some of America’s most beloved venues, including the Kennedy Center, where her Fall 2019 debut as the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda earned praise for “a perfect combination of purring, sensuous phrasing and pure-toned innocence” (Washington Classical Review). A well-known favorite for Carmina Burana, she has soloed twice with National Symphony, as well as with Omaha Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Mobile Symphony, and MidAmerica Productions for her Carnegie Hall debut in 2017. She recently created the title role in Augusta Read Thomas’ Sweet Potato Kicks the Sun with Santa Fe Opera, sharing the stage with legendary beatboxer Nicole Paris in the first commission for the groundbreaking, initiative “Opera for all Voices.”
In the 2021-2022 season, Amy made her debut with Chicago Opera Theater in Becoming Santa Claus under Lydia Yankovskaya, and covered the roles of Controller and Tina in Dallas Opera’s production of Flight. She also appeared with Dayton Philharmonic and Lubbock Symphony for performances of Messiah, Des Moines Symphony for Carmina Burana, Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, and Brooklyn Art Song Society.
Other recent roles include Cunegonde in Candide with Utah Symphony, where she was praised for her “dazzling array of vocal abilities” and “remarkable acting talent,” Johanna in Sweeney Todd with Michigan Opera Theater, and Florestine in On Site Opera’s North American premiere of La mére coupable, a notoriously difficult score which Owens was hailed as handling with “keen sensitivity,” “gleaming coloratura,” and “impressive accuracy and thrilling high notes” (Broadway World, Bachtrack, Musical America). Her affinity for new music also makes her a sought-after soprano for workshops, including the Metropolitan Opera workshop of Eurydice, and multiple workshops with American Opera Projects. She covered the role of Faustina in the world premiere of The Phoenix at Houston Grand Opera in 2019, sang as a last-minute replacement in Opera America’s 2016 New Opera Showcase, and has premiered art song frequently with the NYFOS Next series. She was a resident artist with Utah Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Central City Opera, and was the grand prize recipient from the Sullivan Foundation in 2014. She also holds awards from the Jensen Foundation (2019 finalist) and Metropolitan Opera National Council (Eastern Region Finalist 2015). She is a multiple prize-winner with the George London Foundation and was a featured soloist on their recital series with Anthony Dean Griffey and Warren Jones.
As a multi-disciplinary artist, Amy performed at the 50th annual New Orleans Jazz Festival with renowned musician Glen David Andrews in the Blues Tent in 2019, and as a budding conductor, she was selected to participate in the Hart Institute for Women Conductors at Dallas Opera and the International Conducting Workshop Festival in Bulgaria. She released two collaborative albums in 2019: a debut album of original music, HAETHOR, which received acclaim in the electronica world as “an enchanted force” (Impose), and Songs of Leonard Bernstein, including previously unrecorded vocal music. Other discography includes her performance as Mater Gloriosa in Utah Symphony’s recording of Mahler Symphony 8.
In 2020, after cancelled performances with Santa Fe Opera, Utah Symphony, Des Moines Symphony, and Mill City Summer Opera due to Covid-19, she co-founded The Collective Conservatory and developed a unique curriculum to forge new and innovative paths for online musical collaboration. She has also served as the artistic director and co-founder of Bel Canto Productions and production manager for Access Opera, two organizations with missions to increase accessibility and broaden the definition of opera for a wider audience. Amy enjoys developing her other interests as a producer, conductor, accordion player, dancer, yogi, educator, writer, composer, and wellness advocate. She holds a master’s degree in vocal performance from Rice University.