Heather holmquest, soprano

Dr. Heather Holmquest is based in Rochester, NY and is an active soprano soloist in the Western NY region known for her dynamic range and colorful vocal timbre. Primarily a concert artist, her recent solo appearances include Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël with Avanti; Poulenc’s Gloria and Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang with the Eastman Summer Community Sing; Brahm’s Requiem with First Inversion and Eastman Summer Conducting Institute; Handel’s Messiah and Michael Haydn’s Requiem with First Presbyterian Church in Pittsford; Bach’s St. John Passion and Mass in Bm with Voices; and Vivaldi’s Gloria, Fauré’s Requiem, and Bach’s BWV 140 “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” with Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester.

Heather has also performed roles in a number of operas, including Sister Constance in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Alcina in Alcina, Lucy in The Telephone, Serpina in La serva padrona, and the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte. She is also an active member of the Rochester choral community and has sung with many local ensembles including Voices, Vox Lusciniae, Musica Spei, and First Inversion.

In addition to performing, Heather is an instructor of music theory at Nazareth University and director of Scivias Medieval Ensemble, a treble ensemble that engages audiences through informative early music programs. She received her Ph.D. in music theory from the University of Oregon with a secondary area in vocal performance. At her home, she teaches voice lessons and lives with her wife, her cat Thea, and her two extremely cute dogs Cricket and Cashew.