Ying Fang
About this Artist
“Peter Sellars brings a message of love to Mozart’s Idomeneo at Salzburg Festival. There’s plenty to admire at the Felsenreitschule, but the evening belongs to soprano Ying Fang….This diminutive singer has a voice that can stop time, pure and rich and open and consummately expressive.” - Financial Times
Ms. Fang’s operatic season in 2019-20 is comprised of a house debut with Lyric Opera of Chicago as Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni led by James Gaffigan; a return to the Metropolitan Opera for a role debut as Sophie in Sir Richard Eyre’s production of Massenet’s Werther under the baton of Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Pamina in Julie Taymor’s magical production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte conducted by Lothar Koenigs, a role she will reprise for a house debut at Houston Grand Opera in a breathtaking production by Barrie Kosky and Suzanne Andrad with Jane Glover conducting; and finally Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at Los Angeles Opera directed by celebrated filmmaker James Gray and conducted by Music Director James Conlon which marks a third house debut for the season. Ms. Fang will sing concerts of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 Resurrection led by Gianandrea Noseda at the Tsinandali Festival in Georgia, as well as song recitals for Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Celebrity Series of Boston, and Parlance Chamber Concerts. The summer will mark her third return to the Verbier Festival as she performs a concert version of Don Giovanni under Gábor Takács-Nagy as well as a performance of Mozart’s Requiem conducted by Sir András Schiff.
In the 2018-19 season, Mozart was the foundation for two auspicious debuts for Ms. Fang. Her debut at the Salzburger Festspiele in a new production of Idomeneo reunited her with director Peter Sellars. She also returned to the Metropolitan Opera for a role debut as Servilia in the Jean-Pierre Ponnelle production La Clemenza di Tito. Another season highlight included Ms. Fang rejoining the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Hall, in collaboration with The Old Globe Theatre of San Diego, as Juno for performances of the incidental music to Shakespeare's The Tempest by Sibelius conducted by Susanna Mälkki. She made a return to the New York Philharmonic for performances of the Brahms Requiem under Jaap van Zweden. Ms. Fang debuted with several orchestras last season including the Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of Franz Welser-Möst as Echo in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos; the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Andris Nelsons and the Hong Kong Philharmonic conducted by Jaap van Zweden for Mahler’s Symphony No. 2; the San Francisco Symphony and Houston Symphony with Jane Glover conducting Handel’s Messiah; the Malaysian Philharmonic under Roberto Abbado and North Carolina Symphony under Carlos Miguel Prieto for Orff’s Carmina Burana; and a Carnegie Hall concert with Orchestra of St. Luke’s under Bernard Labadie for Mozart’s "Venga la morte....Non temer, amato bene.”
The 2017-2018 season saw Ms. Fang’s house debut at Opernhaus Zürich as Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. She returned to the Metropolitan Opera to sing Noémie in a new production of Massenet’s Cendrillon directed by Laurent Pelly that was broadcast worldwide via Live in HD. Ms. Fang portrayed Morgana in Handel’s Alcina with Washington National Opera. She also made a house and role debut at Vancouver Opera as Adina in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore. Concert appearances included Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel and directed by Peter Sellars; a recital with pianist Ken Noda at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Fang returned to the Verbier Festival for Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 conducted by Christoph Eschenbach; performances of the Fauré Requiem under Mark Minkowski; and a solo recital. She also appeared in concert with the Verbier Chamber Ensemble at Schloss Elmau.
Ms. Fang’s previous seasons have included performances conductors James Levine, Sir Andrew Davis, Carlo Rizzi, Alan Gilbert, William Christie, Emmanuelle Haïm, Jesús López Cobos, Bernard Labadie, Nathalie Stutzmann, and Manfred Honeck. She has sung at Opéra de Lille, Opera Philadelphia, Wolf Trap Opera Company, Aspen Opera Theater Center, and The Juilliard School in such varied operas as L’Italiana in Algeri (Elvira), Jenůfa (Jano), Le Nozze di Figaro (Susanna), Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (Bellezza), Tannhäuser (Shepherd), Hänsel und Gretel (Dew Fairy), Iphigénie en Aulide, Falstaff (Nannetta), Giulio Cesare (Cleopatra), Il Viaggio A Reims (Contessa di Folleville), Zaïde (title role), The Nose (Madame Podtochina’s Daughter), Don Giovanni (Zerlina), La Cambiale di Matrimonio (Fanny), Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Konstanze), and Curlew River (Spirit of the Boy). Concert engagements have included appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, New World Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, and Music of the Baroque Orchestra in Mahler’s Symphony Nos.2 and 4, Handel’s Messiah, Telemann’s Der Tag des Gerichts, Handel’s Silete Venti, Bernstein’s West Side Story, and more. Ms. Fang has given performances at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, and Alice Tully Hall, as well as with the Verbier Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and Ravinia Festival.
A native of Ningbo, China, Ms. Fang is the recipient of the Martin E. Segal Award, the Hildegard Behrens Foundation Award, the Rose Bampton Award of The Sullivan Foundation, The Opera Index Award, and First Prize of the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition. In 2009, she become one of the youngest singers to win one of China’s most prestigious awards – the China Golden Bell Award for Music. She has been hailed as “the most gifted Chinese soprano of her generation” by Ningbo Daily.
Ms. Fang holds a Master’s degree and an Artist Diploma in Opera Study from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor’s degree from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She is a former member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.