Joelle Lachance

Mezzo Soprano

Hailing from Fly Creek, NY, Joelle was drawn to music and singing from a young age. She performed in her first musical at the age of six and continued to cultivate her craft from there. She received a Bachelors of Music is Music Education with a concentration in Music History and Voice from Nazareth College in 2013, graduating magna cum laude and with an award in Choral Conducting. She continued her education at Nazareth College, graduating with a Masters of Science in Music Education with a concentration in Voice a year later. Wanting to focus on performance, Joelle pursued a second masters degree, this time in Historical Performance from Boston University, graduating with distinction in 2016. She is now in pursuit of her penultimate degrees in Vocal Performance and Literature and Stage Directing from the world-renowned Eastman School of Music.

Joelle has performed a variety of roles including Mère Marie in Dialogues of the Carmelites (Eastman Opera Theater), der Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos (Eastman Opera Theater), Local Woman/Miserable Candidate in Candide (The Glimmerglass Festival), Mrs. Nolan in The Medium (Buffalo Opera Unlimited), il Paggio in Rigoletto (Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra), Phoebe in The Mock Marriage (Ohio Light Opera), Minnie Fay in Hello, Dolly! (Ohio Light Opera), Bellomy in The Fantasticks (Ohio Light Opera), Julie in The Ship’s Captain (The Musicians of Ma’alwick), Mrs. Ott in Susannah (Buffalo Opera Unlimited with WLEN (PBS)), Coralie in the North American premier of The Daring of Diane (Ohio Light Opera), Ernesto in The Three Billy Goats Gruff (Schmidt Opera Outreach Program with University of Kentucky), Hansel in Hansel and Gretel (Opera Theater of Connecticut, New York Lyric Opera, Viva La Musica Vermont, Nazareth College), Third Lady in The Magic Flute (Barn Opera), Lucinda in Into the Woods (Ohio Light Opera), Flora James in Girl Crazy (Ohio Light Opera), Joyce Wheeler in Fifty Million Frenchmen (Ohio Light Opera), Clorinda in Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (Cottage Industry Theater), First Spirit in The Magic Flute (The Glimmerglass Festival), Camus in King Arthur (Boston University), Oberto in Alcina (NAPA Music Festival), the Seamstress’ Son in The Happy Prince (Rochester Lyric Opera), and Calisto in La Calisto (Nazareth College). She made her European debut as Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte (Berlin Opera Academy, 2016).

Known for her engaging performances, Joelle was a winner of the NATS Fingerlakes Regional Competition in 2022, a semi-finalist in the 2019 Harold Haugh Light Opera Competition, a finalist in the 2018 Barn Opera Vocal Competition, and a winner of the 2012 Rising Stars Competition at Nazareth College. Her concert repertoire include Ravel’s Shéhérazade (Eastman School of Music), solos in Handel’s Messiah (St. Thomas More Rochester, the Eastman School of Music, Voices of Cooperstown), the Missa Luba (Rochester Oratorio Society with Sankofa Dance), Mallika in Delibes’ ‘Flower Duet’ from Lakmé and Suzuki in Puccini’s ‘Flower Duet’ from Madama Butterfly for New York Lyric Opera’s Scene Program in Carnegie Hall (November 2019), and is a regularly featured soloist for the Guild of Glimmerglass’ concerts. She has sung various chamber works including Haydn’s Ariadne auf Naxos, Jacquet de la Guerre’s Semelé, and Bach’s Coffee Cantata. Masterclasses that she has participated in include programs with Susan Ashbaker, David Aronson, Julianna Gondek, and Laura Brooks Rice’s CoOPERAtive program. A student of Katherine Ciesinski, upcoming performances for Joelle include Chickadee/Boy 1/Baby 2 in the workshop of the new opera Vespa by Don DiNicola in June and Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with the Opera Theater of Connecticut in December.