Biography

In repertory that spans from Vivaldi to Mozart to Thomas Adès, mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard has graced the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, Paris Opera, Salzburg Festival, Bavarian State Opera, Carnegie Hall, Glyndebourne Festival, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and San Francisco Opera in roles such as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Angelina in La Cenerentola, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Charlotte in Werther, Costanza in Griselda, Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, the title role in La Périchole, as well as Sesto in both Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito and Handel’s Giulio Cesare. She made her San Francisco Symphony debut in 2013.

This season Ms. Leonard performs at the Metropolitan Opera in three roles: in the title role for the company premiere of Nico Muhly’s Marnie (HD broadcast), Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Blanche de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites (HD broadcast), also conducted by Mr. Nézet-Séguin. In concert, she will sing an all-Bernstein recital with Ted Sperling for the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and Ravel’s Shéhérazade with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, conducted by Mr. Nézet-Séguin. She also appears as soloist in a Bernstein tour with John Mauceri and the Czech National Orchestra throughout the US and returns to the SFS in June 2019 for Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortilèges, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.

Ms. Leonard has appeared with leading orchestras such as the Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, and Vienna Philharmonic, among others. She can be heard on Grammy award-winning recordings of Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortilèges with Seiji Ozawa on Decca and Thomas Adès's The Tempest from the Metropolitan Opera on Deutsche Grammophon. She can also be heard on the San Francisco Symphony’s recent recording on SFS Media of Bernstein’s Arias and Barcarolles, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas.

Recipient of the 2013 Richard Tucker Award, Ms. Leonard is also on the Board of Trustees at Carnegie Hall. She has joined the supporters of the Prostate Cancer Foundation to lend her voice in honor of her father who died from the disease.