Caroline Olsen, mezzo

Mezzo-soprano Caroline Olsen pairs her “warm, earth-toned resonance,” (Boston Classical Review) with an acclaimed dramatic approach to many styles of music. Highlights of this season’s solo engagements include appearances with The Clarion Choir (New York, NY), Connecticut Early Music Festival (New London, CT), Lyric Fest (Philadelphia, PA), and as a recitalist.

 

Ms. Olsen originated the lead role of Molly Bloom in Benjamin P. Wenzelberg’s award-winning opera, NIGHTTOWN, with Lowell House Opera (Cambridge, MA). With a focus on new works as well as female and nonbinary music, Ms. Olsen’s repertoire includes impactful world premieres by Jonathan Woody, Felicia Sandler, Rośsa Crean, Thomas Oboe Lee, Thomas Weaver, and Adria Stolk, and recital programs featuring the works of Alma Schindler Mahler, Margaret Bonds, and Florence Price, among many others. Ms. Olsen is also a passionate interpreter of late Romantic German Lieder, French chanson, and Scandinavian art song.

 

Selected recent solo engagements include Procula in Felicia Sandler’s The Mystic Rose (premiere, Boston, MA), Anima in Hildegard’s Ordo Virtutum with Cappella Clausura (Newton, MA), Handel’s Messiah with The Handel and Haydn Society (Rockport, MA), Vivaldi’s Gloria and J. S. Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Connecticut Early Music Festival, and Duruflé’s Requiem with The Thirteen (Washington, DC).

 

A skilled collaborative musician, Ms. Olsen performs with professional ensembles including The Handel and Haydn Society, The Clarion Choir, The New Consort (New York, NY), The Thirteen, Oregon Bach Festival Chorus (Eugene, OR), Emmanuel Music (Boston, MA), and JSB Ensemble (Stuttgart, Germany).

Caroline Olsen was born and raised in California. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance and Music Education from the College of Fine Arts at Boston University. When not onstage, she teaches adult English learners in her local community. www.CarolineOlsen.com