KAREN CHIA-LING HO

Ms Ho made her debut with the San Francisco Opera in a world première of Dream of the Red Chamber by Bright Sheng as Princess Jia and made her Carnegie Hall debut with the American Symphony Orchestra in Krenek's Der Diktator under the baton of Leon Botstein. She reprised her role in Dream of the Red Chamber with the Hong Kong Arts Festival and during the 2017-18 season she toured China with a number of performances throughout mainland China of Dream of the Red Chamber. She sang the role of Violetta in La traviata with the Philharmonia Orchestra of New York at Rose Theater, Lincoln Center.

Ms. Ho recently sang Strauss's Op. 27 and the Yellow River Cantata with the New Jersey Festival Orchestra and was presented in concert with the American Composers Orchestra in music by Li Shaosheng at a presentation to the China-US Composers Project produced by China's Ministry of Culture. She made her role and company debut as Liù in Turandot with St. Petersburg Opera and participated in the final rounds of the Belvedere Competition in Amsterdam. Ms. Ho was a member of the Merola Opera Program of the San Francisco Opera where she was feature in the role of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni under the direction of James Darrah.

She has been honored as a Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions winner for the South Carolina District and participated in the Southeast Regional Finals. She is a first-prize winner of the Mildred Miller International Voice Competition, the 2nd Prize winner of the Marcello Giordani Foundation International Vocal Competition and was awarded the Sergio Franchi Music Foundation Grant.

Skilled in a wide range of genres, Ms Ho was reëngaged for a second season with the Glimmerglass Festival as a young artist covering the soprano roles in a staged Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and David Lang’s The Little Match Girl Passion. She has performed at the Royal Opera House in Muscat, Oman in The Music Man as Alma Hix and covered the role of Sidonie in Lully’s Armide in a previous season with the Glimmerglass Festival. Ms. Ho has performed the roles of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, for which she won the Sam Adams Award for best operatic performance while attending conservatory. She has performed as soloist in the Bruckner Mass in D minor and the Rodrigo Cuatro Madrigales Amatorio.

She received musical degrees from the universities of TNUA and Tung-Hai where she studied Vocal Performance. After arriving in the U.S. for advance studies, she earned her Masters in Music from the Eastman School of Music and Artist Diploma from the College- Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati.

More on Karen Chia-ling Ho at: Karen Chia-ling Ho, soprano.com

Printed articles:  "A Princess Returns" -- Karen Chia-ling Ho, Dream of the Red Chamber

Reviews

Dream of the Red Chamber, San Francisco Opera

"Yet most powerful, in a fascinating way, was the performance of soprano Karen Chia-ling Ho as Princess Jia. She is the only character who seems to see the action from a vantage point of full knowledge, understanding the risks and strategies of imperial jockeying as no one else does, and this gives her music a rich and tragic cast that Ho brought out to perfection". -- Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronical

Der Diktator, American Symphony Orchestra

"…the full-blast dramatic soprano of Karen Chia-ling Ho, who sang the determined Maria…has the power to cut through any orchestra going;…she could also sing softly and shape phrases to express other moods…she might be a singer to keep an eye on".

─ John Yohalem, Musical America