Harolyn Blackwell

Harolyn Blackwell made her Broadway debut in Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story in 1980. Selected as a finalist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, she transitioned from musical theater to opera. Her Metropolitan Opera debut came in 1987 as Pousette in Manon. Recognized for her expressive and exuberant performances and radiant voice, she has performed with major national and international opera companies around the world. Blackwell received critical acclaim for her role in La fille du regiment with the Metropolitan Opera, and she performed in the Broadway revival of Candide, directed by Hal Prince, in 1997. She was part of the 1995-96 salute to the Kennedy Center's 25th Anniversary and performed with the National Symphony Orchestra on A Capitol Fourth, the Independence Day celebration on PBS. Among Blackwell's many honors and awards was one that afforded her the opportunity to study with Renata Tebaldi and Carlo Bergonzi. She won the Baltimore Opera's Puccini Foundation Award, WGN-Illinois Opera Guild "Audition of the Air" and two Richard Tucker Music Foundation Career Grants.