Swedish soprano Emma Berggren recently made her role debut singing Violetta Valéry in La Traviata with Pacific Lyric Association at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido.
Operatic roles includes the title role in Tosca, Mimì in La Bohème, Angelica in Suor Angelica , Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, the Celestial Voice in Don Carlo, Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto, and Papagena and the Second Spirit in Die Zauberflöte. Ms. Berggren has covered roles such as Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, Giorgetta in Il Tabarro, Rosaline in Die Fledermaus, Gertrude and the Gingerbread Witch in Hansel and Gretel, the mezzo soprano soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Johanna in Sweeney Todd. Organizations that Emma has performed and covered roles with includes Pacific Lyric Association, Lyric Opera of Orange County, Guild Opera Company, Ridgecrest Opera Guild, Riverside Lyric Opera, California Philharmonic and Golden State Pops Orchestra.
Ms. Berggren was a finalist in the 2024 Bayreuth-Stipendium Wagner Society Gothenburg Vocal Competition in collaboration with GöteborgsOperan and the 2022 Burbank Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hennings-Fischer Foundation Young Artist Competition. She has been awarded the Young Artist Apprentice Scholarship with the Verdi Chorus, Musicians Institute’s Outstanding Student Project Award for her musical compositions and the Margit Mechlers Musikstipendium. Ms. Berggren attended Lilla Akademiens Musikskola in classical singing in Stockholm, Sweden, and AIMS Opera Studio in Graz, Austria, under scholarship, where she was featured as a soloist in the Puccini Gala concert under direction of Lukas Beikircher at Stefanielsaal, Grazer Congress.
Emma has appeared as a soloist with the Falsterbo-Skanör music summer program in Sweden with Maestro Skanör Falsterbo Musikföreningen led by Per Engström. Other soloist highlights includes Ms. Berggren performing selections from Aida with Ridgecrest Chamber Music Society, selections from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly with Mission Opera, and Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder at Woodley Concert Corner. Ms. Berggren was featured as a soloist with Cabrillo Chamber Orchestra for their ‘A Scandinavian Voyage’ concert where she performed Scandinavian songs such as “Skogen Sover” (Hugo Alfvén), “Tonerna” (Carl Sjöberg), the traditional folk song “Värmlandsvisan”, as well as “Solveigs Sang” from Peer Gynt (Edvard Grieg) conducted by Zun-Hin Woo.
Furthermore Emma is passionate about introducing children to opera and has actively worked with Guild Opera Company to further their mission. As part of Guild Opera Company’s educational outreach program Ms. Berggren has performed the role of Queen of Hearts in Robert Chauls’ Alice in Wonderland at many elementary schools in Los Angeles County.
Upon first arriving in Southern California, Ms. Berggren joined several choral groups including Dream Orchestra for Händel’s Messiah and Rossini’s Stabat Mater conducted by Daniel Suk, and the California Philharmonic under the baton of Victor Vener and vocal direction of Marya Basaraba. Through Golden State Pops Orchestra lead by Steven Allen Fox, in collaboration with Varèse Sarabande, Ms. Berggren performed with film composers such as Christopher Young, Joseph Lo Duca, John Debney, Marco Beltrami, William Ross and Hans Zimmer.
Upcoming engagements for the spring 2025 includes singing Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s Macbeth with Guild Opera Company.
