Jamie Barton in Recital

Critically acclaimed by virtually every major outlet covering classical music, American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton is increasingly recognized for how she uses her powerful instrument offstage – lifting up women, queer people, and other marginalized communities. Her lively social media presence on Instagram and Twitter (@jbartonmezzo) serves as a hub for conversations about body positivity, social justice issues, and LGBTQ+ rights.

In recognition of her iconic performance at the Last Night of the Proms, Barton was named 2020 Personality of the Year at the BBC Music Magazine Awards. She is also the winner of the International Opera Awards Readers’ Award, Beverly Sills Artist Award, Richard Tucker Award, and BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, for which The Guardian described her as “a great artist, no question, with an imperturbable steadiness of tone, and a nobility of utterance that invites comparison not so much with her contemporaries as with mid-20th century greats such as Kirsten Flagstad.”

This season, Barton makes a dual role and company debut as Baba the Turk in The Rake’s Progress at Opéra National de Paris and brings her acclaimed Azucena to The Metropolitan Opera’s Il trovatore. She also debuts as Nettie Fowler in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel with Boston Lyric Opera before appearing as Amneris in Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Aida. Barton opens the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra season as the mezzo soloist in Das Lied von der Erde and returns to the BBC Proms for Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder with BBC Symphony Orchestra. Other appearances include debuts with NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Long Beach Opera, and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Barton also embarks on a chamber music tour, bringing a World Premiere by Joel Thompson to the stages of Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, New York’s Chamber Society of Lincoln Center, Boston Celebrity Series, and the Kennedy Center for the Arts in Washington, D.C. Recital appearances this season include Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and Wigmore Hall in London.

Barton’s 2007 win at The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions launched a major international career that includes leading roles at many of the world’s most-loved opera houses including the Met, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro Real Madrid, Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper, Santa Fe Opera, and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. She has appeared in concert with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Rotterdam Philharmonic, as well as the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Dallas, Iceland, London, Prague, Czech Republic, Oulu, Pittsburgh, Toronto, and Valencia, Spain.

Winner of the 2018 BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award, Barton’s debut solo album, All Who Wander, featuring songs by Mahler, Dvořák, and Sibelius, was also shortlisted for the International Classical Music Awards and Gramophone Classical Music Awards. Most recently, Unexpected Shadows, her critically acclaimed album with composer and pianist Jake Heggie, was nominated for a 2022 Grammy® Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album.