Molly Jane Hill Dramatic Mezzo-Soprano
Molly Jane Hill is an, all-too-rare, true dramatic mezzo-soprano. Her rich, round voice and voluptuous demeanor make her perfectly suited for the full Verdi and Wagner repertoire.
In the 2017/18 season, Ms. Hill is making her role debut of Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera with Livermore Valley Opera and is reprising Maddalena in Rigoletto with Charlottesville Opera. In 2016 she was an audience and critic favorite as Mrs. Lovett in the Glimmerglass Festival production of Sweeney Todd where she also sang the role of Susan Walcott in The Crucible. She returned to Virginia Opera to cover Anna 1 in Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins.
In recent seasons, Molly Jane Hill has appeared as Venus in Orpheus in the Underworld with Virginia Opera, Maddalena in Rigoletto with Livermore Valley Opera, and as Eunice Hubbell in A Streetcar Named Desire with Opera Santa Barbara. As an Apprentice Artist with Central City Opera, she performed Sister Lillianne in Dead Man Walking (while covering Mrs. DeRocher), Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, Flora in La Traviata, Frau Schmidt in The Sound of Music, and Housekeeper in Man of La Mancha. With Oklahoma Opera & Music Theater Company she delighted audiences as The Mother in The Consul and Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus.
While pursuing her Master’s Degree at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Ms. Hill performed as Ottavia in L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti, La Principessa in Suor Angelica, the title role in Michael John LaChiusa’s Bernarda Alba, The Witch in Hansel and Gretel, Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, and the title role in Carmen. On the concert stage she has performed the mezzo solos in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Colburn Orchestra and, returning as a guest artist, sang Wagner’s Wessendonck Lieder with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra.
Molly Jane Hill has won awards from the Western Region and the Los Angeles Region Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Denver Lyric Opera Guild, and the Pasadena Opera Guild. She is the 2015 winner of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition, the 2014 First Place winner of the East Bay Opera League Competition, and recipient of the Dorsey Family Award at Central City Opera.
Molly Jane Hill Dramatic Mezzo-Soprano
Opera Ulrica Un ballo in maschera Livermore Valley Opera 2018 Maddalena Rigoletto Charlottesville Opera 2017 Anna 1 (c) The Seven Deadly Sins Virginia Opera 2016 Mrs. Lovett Sweeney Todd Glimmerglass Festival 2016 Susanna Walcott The Crucible Glimmerglass Festival 2016 Rebecca Nurse (c) The Crucible Glimmerglass Festival 2016 Venus Orpheus in the Underworld Virginia Opera 2015 Public Opinion (c) Orpheus in the Underworld Virginia Opera 2015 Flora La Traviata Central City Opera 2015 Housekeeper The Man of La Mancha Central City Opera 2015 Eunice Hubbell A Streetcar Named Desire Opera Santa Barbara 2015 Mexican Woman (c) A Streetcar Named Desire Opera Santa Barbara 2015 Ottavia L'incoronazione di Poppea San Francisco Conservatory of Music 2015 The Witch Hansel and Gretel (scenes) San Francisco Conservatory of Music 2015 Maddalena Rigoletto Livermore Valley Opera 2014 Dinah Trouble in Tahiti San Francisco Conservatory of Music 2014 Octavian Der Rosenkavalier (scenes) San Francisco Conservatory of Music 2014 Carmen Carmen (scenes) San Francisco Conservatory of Music 2014 Sister Lillianne Dead Man Walking Central City Opera 2014 Mrs. DeRocher (c) Dead Man Walking Central City Opera 2014 Marcellina Le nozze di Figaro Central City Opera 2014 Frau Schmidt The Sound of Music Central City Opera 2014 Bernarda Alba Bernarda Alba San Francisco Conservatory of Music 2013 Suzuki Madama Butterfly (scenes) I Sing Beijing 2012 Principessa Suor Angelica Si Parla, Si Canta (Urbania, IT) 2010 Mother The Consul Oklahoma Opera & Music Theater Co. 2010 Prince Orlofsky Die Fledermaus Oklahoma Opera & Music Theater Co. 2009 Marcellina Le nozze di Figaro Oklahoma Opera & Music Theater Co. 2009 Cherubino Così fan tutte American Singers Opera Project 2008
Concert & Oratorio Soloist Beethoven Symphony No. 9 Colburn Orchestra 2016 Wagner Wesendonck Lieder San Francisco Conservatory of Music 2016 Soloist Cabaret Recordings Duke New Music Ensemble 2014
Molly Jane Hill Dramatic Mezzo-Soprano
Education & Training Glimmerglass Festival, Young Artist 2016 Virginia Opera, Emerging Artist 2015-16 Central City Opera, Apprentice Artist 2014-15 San Francisco Conservatory of Music, M.M. Vocal Performance 2015 Opera Santa Barbara, Studio Artist 2015 I Sing Beijing, Young Artist 2012 Oklahoma City University, B.M. Vocal Performance, Cum laude 2010
Awards & Grants 4th Place, Denver Lyric Opera Guild Annual Competition 2017 Encouragement Award, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Western Region) 2015 District Winner, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Los Angeles) 2015 Award Winner, Young Artist Division, Pasadena Opera Guild 2015 1st Place, San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition 2015 1st Place, East Bay Opera League Competition 2014 Dorsey Family Award, Central City Opera Bonfils-Stanton Apprentice Program 2014
Molly Jane Hill Dramatic Mezzo-Soprano
Opera Repertoire
Bellini Ponichelli Romeo ……………. Il Capuleti e i Montecchi La Cieca, Laura ….… La Gioconda Adalgisa ……………….. Norma Poulenc Berg Mère Marie .... Les Dialogues des Carmelites Countess Gerschwitz ….……….. Lulu Puccini Bizet Zita …………………. Gianni Schicchi Carmen ….………………..…… Carmen Suzuki ……….……...….. Madama Butterfly La Zia Principessa …….. Suor Angelica Britten Frugola …………………… Il Tabarro Mrs. Herring ……………… Albert Herring Lucretia ……..…… The Rape of Lucretia Saint-Saëns Dalila …...... …. Samson et Dalila Cilea Princessa di Bouillon … Adriana Lecouvreur R. Strauss Komponist …..………… Ariadne auf Naxos Donizetti Stravinsky Giovanna Seymour ….…... Anna Bolena Baba the Turk ……… The Rake’s Progress Leonora ….………… La Favorita Tchaikovsky Dvořák Larina …………...……….…. Eugene Onegin Ježibaba ……….………… Rusalka Countess ………………… La Picque-Dame
Gounod Verdi Martha ……….……...………………. Faust Ulrica ………………. Un Ballo in Maschera Eboli ……………………… Don Carlos Händel Preziosilla .....…...... La Forza del Destino Juno …………………..…. Semele Dame Quickly …….…..…….....……. Falstaff Humperdinck Amalia .....…...... Luisa Miller The Witch, Gertrude …… Hansel and Gretel Maddalena ……………………… Rigoletto Azucena ………… Il Trovatore Janáček Starenka ……………………… Jenůfa Wagner Waltraute …………. Götterdämmerung Mascagni Ortrud ………………….. Lohengrin Santuzza …………… Cavalleria Rusticana Kundry ………………………. Parsifal Fricka, Erda ……………… Das Rheingold Menotti Erda …………………………… Siegfried Mother ……..... Amahl & the Night Visitors Brangäne ……………….. Tristan und Isolde Mother ...…...... ………….. The Consul Fricka ……………… Die Walküre
Moore Weill Augusta McCourt …… Ballad of Baby Doe Leocadia ……………….. Mahagonny
This list represents recommended roles in the artist's operatic repertoire. For a list of performed repertoire, please refer to the artist's resume and biography.
Molly Jane Hill Dramatic Mezzo-Soprano
Reviews
"Hill was terrific. The mezzo-soprano brought maturity and an authority to the role that belied her years and experience and wasn’t afraid to color her operatic trained voice to serve the character. Her acting was both specific and funny. Her Mrs. Lovett could be manipulative as the role demanded, but she drew the audience in to sympathize with her too as she discovered both a romantic and unlikely business partner." ~Susan Galbraith, DC THEATER SCENE
"... a promising debut in the role of Mrs. Lovett by understudy Molly Jane Hill... Hill’s Mrs. Lovett was more feminine and natural than Angela Lansbury’s energetic, slightly dotty portrayal in the original Broadway production or Patti Lupone’s hard-edged Mrs. Lovett." ~Barbara Jepson, CLASSICAL VOICE AMERICA
"Mrs. Lovett... played instead by Young Artist mezzo-soprano Molly Jane Hill in a delightful turn that gave sterling testament to her talents, stamina, and professional preparation." ~Charles Geyer, MY SCENA
"Mary Beth Nelson, Maren Weinberger, Emma Grimsley, and Molly Jane Hill play the other girls who share in instigating the jailing and murder of so many innocent people. The singers throw themselves into the physical and emotional challenges of their roles, and their technical execution of Fogel’s choreography is superb." ~Susan Galbraith, DC THEATER SCENE
"Best Opera Diva in a Supporting Role [Flora in La Traviata]: Molly Jane Hill." ~David Marlowe, MARLOWE'S MUSINGS
"Molly Hill made a fine contribution as Maddalena, a slattern with a smoky voice and bawdy frankness." ~SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE
"Among the others, special mention should be made of...Molly Hill's lusty Venus." VIRGINIAN ~PILOT
"Molly Jane Hill (Housekeeper) on 'I'm Only Thinking of Him' one of the funniest moments in the performance." ~DAILY CAMERA
"A supporting cast of marvelous singers included... Molly Jane Hill (Eunice Hubbell) the Kowalski's grumbling upstairs neighbor." ~CASA MAGAZINE