Spinto Soprano, Heather Hjelle, most recently took the stage performing the role of Gioconda in La Gioconda with Opera MODO. Previously, she made her professional debut as Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana with Main Street Opera in 2017. Early that year, she covered Metropolitan Opera soprano Alexandra LoBianco as Santuzza with Opera Steamboat. That same year, Heather traveled to Italy to perform the role of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Operafestival di Roma. Previous roles include Suor Angelica (Suor Angelica) with Operafestival di Roma. Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Clara (Signor Deluso), and La fata verde (La Bella dormant nel bosco) with North Park University Opera. Scene credits include Countess Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro) Violetta (La Traviata), Mimi (La Bohème), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Hanna (Die lustige Witwe), Vanessa (Vanessa), and Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly). A Minnesota native, Heather earned a degree in Theatre with a minor in music from Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato. At Bethany, she was a featured performer in numerous plays and choral ensembles. In 2016, she received her Masters of Vocal Performance from North Park University where she won second place in the Graduate Performance Awards. Ms. Hjelle was looking forward to returning to Opera Steamboat this summer where she would have covered the role of Ariadne in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos. Her concert with the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra is to be rescheduled in 2021.