Giovanna Joseph
Ms. Joseph is committed to the culture of New Orleans, city of her birth. This is most evident in her research on 19th Century classical music of New Orleans Free People of Color.
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The mezzo-soprano, as founder of the 2018 Classical Arts Award winning OperaCreole, was recently honored as a finalist in the Arts-Based Business Pitch at the 2017 New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW), and interviewed for The New Yorker, and NPRfor her research. She previously as a "Standard Bearer " of Louisiana culture by being featured on "Le Grand Tour" a documentary for French TV, and with a radio interview on WWNO Radio/NPR.
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Ms Joseph was last seen as Sister Marie Josephine Charles in Les Lions de la Reconstruction,the original production she wrote for New Orleans Tricentnnial. She sang the roles of Leonor in our La Flamenca, and Marie Laveau, in our 2015 production of Minette Fontaine. She also sang the role of Sylvia in production of Wading Home, and opera of New Orleans written by Mary Alice Rich and Rosalyn Story of Dallas, Tx., and was alto soloists for Messiah with Symphony Chorus of New Orleans at the Orpheum Theater. She sang the role of Gudrun in our 2012 production of Samuel Coleridge Taylor's lost opera Thelma.
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Givonna has had featured roles in many New Orleans Opera Productions. Roles included: Mrs Noah's Gossip in Noah's Flood, Lily in two production of New Orleans Opera's Porgy and Bess, and one of the three Abati in New Orleans Opera's Manon Lescaut, and. She has been a member of the professional Opera Chorus for many years.
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An award winning arts educator, and music therapist, Ms. Joseph currently teaches voice privately, is a Master Teaching Artist with Young Audiences of Louisiana, lectures on the science of music, and performs for schools through New Orleans Opera's MetroPelican program.
Ms. Joseph has performed in concert at such venues as The American Church In Paris in Paris, France and La Chiesa di Santa Susanna in Rome, Italy. She has been a soloist with the William Grant Still Orchestra, the Symphony Chorus of New Orleans, and served as a cantor for Blessed Teresa of Calcutta's New Orleans visit. In the 2006-2007 season, she was a chorister with Houston Grand Opera. The creator of "WomanSong", a one woman show, she was also heard as an opening artist for Ray Charles in concert at Jones Hall in Houston, TX.
Ms. Joseph, a Loyola University alumna, has studied with Charles Paddock, Philip and Ellen Frohnmeyer, George Shirley (Metropolitan Opera, U. of Michigan), Patricia O'Neil (LSU), and Kathleen Kaun (Rice U.)
Prior to Hurricane Katrina, Givonna served as Music Director/Cantor at St. Rose of Lima Church, and Director of Education for the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.
The arts advocate, researcher, and writer, is also on the Boards of LA Creole (Louisiana Creole Research Association), and Alliance Française. Ms. Joseph is a member of American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) and The Louisiana Touring Directory. Video and audio clips of Ms. Joseph can be found at https://givonnajoseph.webs.com
