Johanna Kvam is a collaborative pianist from Rochester, MN. She most recently served as Staff Pianist and Music Coordinator at Kentucky Opera in Louisville, KY. Prior to this, she was an apprentice coach at Kentucky Opera and Virginia Opera, playing for productions including Le nozze di Figaro, Glory Denied, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Street Scene.
Previous highlights in her career include an art song recital tour with mezzo-soprano Katherine Calcamuggio Donner for the Piatigorsky Foundation. She was also involved in the U.S. premiere of the Hebrew translation of Grigory Frid’s The Diary of Anne Frank for Opera in Williamsburg and the U.S. premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park with Peabody Opera Theatre, where she received acclaim as a “major star of the production” who played “in scintillant fashion” (The Baltimore Sun).
Johanna has served as an orchestral keyboardist for various operas, playing piano in Jack Perla’s An American Dream (Kentucky Opera), piano in Tom Cipullo’s Glory Denied (Opera Fayetteville), piano/celesta in Street Scene (Virginia Opera), celesta/harpsichord in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Virginia Opera), and piano in Turn of the Screw (DC Public Opera).
As a two-time recipient of the Clara Ascherfeld Award in Accompanying, Johanna holds an undergraduate degree in piano performance from Macalester College and a Master’s in Vocal Accompanying from the Peabody Institute.
Johanna’s time at the Studio is generously supported by Sir Howard Stringer.
Updated December 2023. This biography should not be reproduced without asking permission from the National Opera Studio.