Lyric mezzo-soprano Holly Janz is a versatile singing actress with a voice that is evenly blended with clarity, richness, and warmth. She has performed with opera companies across the country including Lyric Opera of the North, Winter Opera Saint Louis, Skylark Opera, Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Wichita Grand Opera, and Union Avenue Opera Theatre.
Orchestral credits include the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Indianapolis Philharmonic Orchestra, Greater Grand Forks Symphony, Fargo-Moorhead Symphony, Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra, as well as Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra. Twice a national finalist in the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award competition, she is the recipient of the Irma Cooper Award.
The 2023-24 season includes the roles of Lucia in Cavalleria Rusticana and Susan in The Desert Song, as well as soloist in a Celebration Concert welcoming F-M Opera’s new general director, Curt Olds, and in Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard.
A lifelong learner, Janz is a graduate of the NATS Intern Program and the Festival of Spanish & Latin American Art Song and Zarzuela. Recognizing the growing need for quality instruction in CCM (Contemporary Commercial Music) voice instruction, she completed courses with master teacher Emily Castleton Warner (Contemporary Voice Teachers Training) and at the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute of Shenandoah Conservatory.
Janz, a native of Marshfield, Wisconsin, is an alumna of the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point (BM). She has also received degrees from the University of Colorado (MM) and the University of Kansas (DMA) and is professor of voice and pedagogy at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota.