DONITA VOLKWIJN

Soprano Donita Volkwijn has been seen recently in major European cities performing the role of Bess for a touring production of Porgy and Bess.  The role has led to two important company debuts:  with Seattle Opera in 2011 and Tulsa Opera in 2007.  She also performed the role of Micaela in Carmen with Tulsa Opera that year, and again the following season with Hawaii Opera Theatre.  No stranger to the music of Puccini, she has also performed two of his heroines with Dicapo Opera Theatre, Mimi in La boheme, and Anna in Le Villi, as well as her first Musetta in La boheme with Tulsa Opera.  As part of the Mezzo Television Competition, she was selected to sing the part of the Condemned Female in David Alagna’s Le Dernier Jour d’un Condamne, which was performed in Debrecen and Dzeged, Hungary.  A finalist in the 2005, 2001 and 2000 MacAllister Awards Competition, Volkwijn received the Glynn Ross Award. She was a regional finalist in the 2000 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a national winner of the 1995 Leontyne Price Vocal Arts Competition.  A native of Cape Town, South Africa, Volkwijn earned her Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Oberlin College-Conservatory and her Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music.