Biography
Emerging mezzo-soprano Olivia Ottinger, a native of New York’s Hudson Valley, is a versatile artist whose repertoire spans Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, Strauss, and contemporary works. A frequent performer of Wagnerian repertoire, she has sung and covered roles including Mary in Der Fliegende Holländer, Zweite Norn in Götterdämmerung, Schwertleite in Die Walküre, Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde, and Flosshilde in Das Rheingold. She has also performed Ortrud in Lohengrin in concert and made role debuts as Giovanna Ambrogio in the world premiere of The Silk City, Olga and Filippyevna in Eugene Onegin, and La Suor Zelatrice in Suor Angelica.
Ottinger most recently appeared with TUNDI Production’s Wagner in Vermont Festival as Mary in Der Fliegende Holländer, covering Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde, and as a Flower Maiden in Parsifal. She has also been featured in TUNDI’s Liederabend series, performing Brahms Op. 61 with soprano Nellie Rustick Meier. This spring, she performed Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder as part of a Chatham, NY recital series. Her concert repertoire includes Mendelssohn’s Elijah, in which she appeared as alto soloist with the Danbury Concert Chorus, as well as an upcoming American song program featuring works by Weill, Price, and Bernstein with the More Than Music Series in Bronxville, NY.
Recent appearances include Giorgio Germont in an innovative production of La Traviata through a PASS Artists Grant at Snug Harbor, La Suor Zelatrice and cover of La Zia Principessa in Opera Magnifico’s Suor Angelica, and performances with Carnegie Hall’s education programming with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Previous engagements include Teatro Grattacielo’s La Vestale, New Amsterdam Opera’s Lucrezia Borgia, and Wagner in Vermont’s Die Walküre. She has also held a young artist position with Dell’Arte Opera, where she performed Geneviève in Pelléas et Mélisande, Giunone in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, and the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos.
Equally at home on the operatic and competition stages, Ottinger has twice advanced to the district rounds of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition as a qualifying winner. She has been named a semifinalist in the Camerata Bardi Vocal Competition and the SAS Performing Arts Competition, a finalist for Opera Idol in Chicago, and an honorable mention recipient in the professional division of Progressive Musicians Online Classics’ Competition.
Ottinger holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice from Mannes School of Music and studies voice with Beth Roberts. Outside of her performing career, she is an active member of the staff at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts. A cellist as well as a singer, she has performed at Carnegie Hall, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and with orchestras throughout New York City and the surrounding region.
