Photo by Fay Fox
Hailed as “a luminous soprano” by the New York Times, Rena Harms has been praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for a “winningly liquid” voice as well as for her “dramatic vividness and vocal flourish.” In 2025, she was the soprano soloist in Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony at the Mondavi Arts Center. Other engagements that season include Mrs. Ford in the Pocket Opera production of The Merry Wives of Windsor, Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro with SP&O, Poulenc’s Gloria with the Camellia Symphony, and a holiday concert with the Music in the Mountains. In the 2022-23 season, Rena made a role and company debut as the Stepmother in Alma Deutscher’s Cinderella with Opera San Jose, standing by for the title role of Tosca and stepped in last minute as Nedda in Pagliacci for SP&O. Upcoming engagements include a return to Beatrice in Heggie’s Three Decembers with Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera (SP&O) and Mozart’s Requiem with the Camellia Symphony.
Other recent credits include the title role in Madame Butterfly at English National Opera, Arizona Opera and Opera Theater of St. Louis, joining the Grand Théâtre de Genève for Wagner’s Ring Cycle, covering the title role in Korngold’s rarely performed opera Das Wunder der Heliane with Bard SummerScape and Nell Gwynn in the regional premiere of Carlisle Floyd’s Prince of Players at Florentine Opera which was recorded live for international release and received a GRAMMY nominations.
Ms. Harms’ “breathtaking intensity” (NDR Kultur) was on display in her French debut as Amelia in Simon Boccanegra at Opéra National de Bordeaux, and in her return to Florentine Opera as Beatrice in Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers. She also reprised her interpretation of Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at Opera Santa Barbara.
Ms. Harms joined the Seattle Symphony as the soprano soloist for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, the Seattle Chamber Music Festival and Opera America for their New Works Sampler, and Seattle Opera for Don Giovanni. She has appeared as Desdemona in Otello with the Oldenburgishes Staatstheater, and the title role in Sigfried Matthus’ Judith with Staatstheater Braunschweig and Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg.
Ms. Harms made her English National Opera debut as Amelia in a new Dmitri Tcherniakov production of Simon Boccanegra and joined Theater Basel for Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, the High Priestess in Calixto Bieito's Aida, and a Flower Maiden in Parsifal. In the U.S. performances include Liu in Turandot with Florentine Opera, Micaëla in Carmen with Florentine Opera, Opera Santa Barbara and Opera Southwest as well as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Ericlea in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria with Wolf Trap Opera. She sang Mimì in La bohème with Los Angeles Opera, where she was a member of the company’s prestigious Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Program. With that same company, she sang Barena in Jenufa, Erste Magd in Der zerbrochene Krug and Zweite Magd in Der Zwerg in a double bill conducted by James Conlon and released on DVD, Sylvaine in The Merry Widow, as well as their Grammy Award-winning production of The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. Ms. Harms was a participant in San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program and was a proud member of the apprentice artist program at Santa Fe Opera.
On the concert stage, Ms. Harms made her Mexican debut with Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Orquesta Sinfonica Simón Bolívar in a program of opera arias and sang Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder with the Burbank Philharmonic and Santa Fe Community Orchestra. She twice joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic for a series of concerts for children, and was the soprano soloist with Music Academy of the West for Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915.
Ms. Harms is a Grand Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She has sung under the batons of Bertand de Billy, Marco Armiliato, Placido Domingo, and Gustavo Dudamel.