Of Joyce El-Khoury’s performance as Violetta in La traviata in her recent Royal Opera House debut, the Independent wrote: “Her pianissimi are exquisite, her coloratura is bold, fearless and flawless, and the expressiveness of her sound grips the heart.” She is embracing her gift for bel canto repertoire with the recent release of her debut solo album “Écho,” with maestro Carlo Rizzi and the Hallé Orchestra on Opera Rara.
In the 2020-21 season, she gave her debut in Italy with concerts of Verdi’s Requiem at Teatro Massimo in Palermo under Riccardo Muti, followed by her debut in the title role of Tosca at the Opera de Lille. Future projects include her debut in Madama Butterfly at the Welsh National Opera and Le Villi at Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse. At Dallas Opera, she will sing Leila in The Pearl Fishers and will return to Canadian Opera for Micaela in Carmen. Later, she will debut in the title role of Anna Bolena at Bilbao Opera.
During recent seasons, she gave ravishing performances as Tatiana in Eugene Onegin and Liu in Turnadot at the Canadian Opera Company, as Mimi in La boheme with Australian Opera and Elisabetta in Roberto Devereux with the Welsh National Opera and in a gala performance in Karlsruhe. Other appearances included recitals in Paris, Montreal and Toronto, Verdi’s Requiem in Toulouse and Mexico City, Beethoven’s Ninth in Prague and her debut as Anna in Le Villi in Limoges.
Recent engagements include Violetta in La traviata with the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, Musetta in La boheme with the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and with San Diego Opera in Jake Heggie’s Great Scott as Tatyana Bakst. She garnered raves when she starred in the title role of Maria Stuarda at Seattle Opera, replacing an ailing colleague in addition to giving her own scheduled performances, in some instances singing back-to-back appearances. On the concert stage, she debuted with the Orchestre de Paris in Rossini’s Stabat Mater, under Jesús López-Cobos, and performed in concerts in Austria with Elīna Garanča, and in Spain with Juan Diego Flórez.
El-Khoury’s discography includes two rare Donizetti operas, Les Martyrs and Belisario, conducted by Sir Mark Elder on the Opera Rara label, both to critical acclaim.
Born in Lebanon and brought up in Canada, Joyce El-Khoury earned her bachelor of music at the University of Ottawa. She received her artist’s diploma from the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. She was a first-prize winner in many competitions, including the Loren L. Zachary Competition, the Opera Index Competition, the George London Foundation and the Mario Lanza Vocal Competition.
