Biography
American Dramatic Soprano Dara Hobbs was born in Williams Bay, Wisconsin and earned Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Northwestern University, where she was also selected for membership in the Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Kappa Lambda national honor societies.
Ms. Hobbs began her professional stage experience with the Apprentice and Studio Artist programs of Sarasota Opera and in the choruses of Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Diego Opera. A regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Competition, Ms. Hobbs received a Metropolitan Opera scholarship to the 2005 American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria and also studied at the 2006 Vocal Arts Symposium in Spoleto, Italy. From 2007 to 2012 she was engaged full time at Theater Krefeld and Mönchengladbach, where she sang the lead roles in many operas, including Tosca, Aida, Ariadne auf Naxos, Don Carlo, Suor Angelica and Pique Dame. During this time she also performed regularly as a guest at numerous European opera houses. Based on this success, she decided in 2012 become a freelance artist, focusing on the repertoire of Wagner and Strauss.
Ms. Hobbs’ performances include Sieglinde (Die Walküre) at Oper Frankfurt; Brünnhilde (Die Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung) at Nationaltheater Mannheim; Isolde (Tristan and Isolde) at Oper Bonn, Oper Chemnitz, Aalto-Musiktheater Essen; and Senta (Der Fliegende Holländer) at Oper Bonn, Deutsche Oper am Rhein and Sarasota Opera. She also performed for five years at the Bayreuther Festspiele as Ortlinde (Die Walküre). The title roles in Richard Strauss’ Salome and Ariadne auf Naxos are among her most-performed roles, at houses such as Staatsoper Hannover and Oper Leipzig. Her engagements outside Germany include performances in the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, South Korea and the United States. Her concert and oratorio engagements include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Missa Solemnis, Brahms’ Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder, and Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder.
She has worked with conductors such as Kirill Petrenko, Valery Gergiev, Marek Janowski, Sebastian Weigle, Lawrence Foster, Axel Kober, Alexander Soddy, Stefan Blunier, Howard Arman, Karen Kamensek, Lukas Beikircher, Victor DeRenzi and Frank Beerman.
Ms. Hobbs began her professional stage experience with the Apprentice and Studio Artist programs of Sarasota Opera and in the choruses of Lyric Opera of Chicago and San Diego Opera. A regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Competition, Ms. Hobbs received a Metropolitan Opera scholarship to the 2005 American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria and also studied at the 2006 Vocal Arts Symposium in Spoleto, Italy. From 2007 to 2012 she was engaged full time at Theater Krefeld and Mönchengladbach, where she sang the lead roles in many operas, including Tosca, Aida, Ariadne auf Naxos, Don Carlo, Suor Angelica and Pique Dame. During this time she also performed regularly as a guest at numerous European opera houses. Based on this success, she decided in 2012 become a freelance artist, focusing on the repertoire of Wagner and Strauss.
Ms. Hobbs’ performances include Sieglinde (Die Walküre) at Oper Frankfurt; Brünnhilde (Die Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung) at Nationaltheater Mannheim; Isolde (Tristan and Isolde) at Oper Bonn, Oper Chemnitz, Aalto-Musiktheater Essen; and Senta (Der Fliegende Holländer) at Oper Bonn, Deutsche Oper am Rhein and Sarasota Opera. She also performed for five years at the Bayreuther Festspiele as Ortlinde (Die Walküre). The title roles in Richard Strauss’ Salome and Ariadne auf Naxos are among her most-performed roles, at houses such as Staatsoper Hannover and Oper Leipzig. Her engagements outside Germany include performances in the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, South Korea and the United States. Her concert and oratorio engagements include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Missa Solemnis, Brahms’ Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder, and Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder.
She has worked with conductors such as Kirill Petrenko, Valery Gergiev, Marek Janowski, Sebastian Weigle, Lawrence Foster, Axel Kober, Alexander Soddy, Stefan Blunier, Howard Arman, Karen Kamensek, Lukas Beikircher, Victor DeRenzi and Frank Beerman.