Accomplished soprano Joanna Foote holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The University of Auckland and a Master’s in Music from UCLA. Notable performances include Rose Maurrant in The Opera Group’s award-winning production of Kurt Weill’s Street Scene and Graham Vick’s production of Death in Venice at Deutsche Oper in Berlin. Joanna made her début in NZOpera’s 2021 Season as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro and recently performed the principal roles in Romeo and Juliette and The Cunning Little Vixen for Festival Opera.
Ms. Foote has toured extensively throughout Europe, performing lead roles in productions such as La fille du régiment, Le Nozze di Figaro, Cosi Fan Tutte, Don Giovanni, L’elisir d’amore, Falstaff, and The Merry Widow. At UCLA, she played several roles, including Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Nannetta in Falstaff, Monica in The Medium, Belinda in Dido & Aeneas, Polly in Threepenny Opera, and Julie Jordan in Carousel with acclaimed directors Peter Kazaras and James Darrah. The completion of her formal studies saw performances with Opéra Français de New York at the Slipper Room Burlesque Club, and a feature in the BBC Documentary What makes a great soprano? with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.
Joanna participated in several prestigious programs, including the Seattle Young Artist Program and the Chautauqua Institution Summer Academy, where she received full scholarships for two consecutive summers. She has won several awards, including the Otago Daily Times Aria Competition and was a finalist in The McDonald’s Aria Competition at the Sydney Opera House and the Kathleen Ferrier Award at Wigmore Hall. Ms. Foote attended the Solti/Te Kanawa Accademia in Italy under the guidance of Richard Bonynge and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, culminating in grants from the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation and the Solti Foundation to pursue further private studies in London. She attended the Academy of French Song and Opera in Toulouse and is a Samling Scholar.