Ashley EMERSON
Described as “appealing and sassy” by the New York Times, soprano Ashley Emerson is sought after for her effervescent singing and storytelling in repertoire ranging from Vivaldi to Thomas Ades. In the 2025-2026 season, Ms. Emerson’s engagements include two exciting house and role debuts: Marzelline in Fidelio in a return to The Cleveland Orchestra, Monica in The Medium and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi in her first appearances with Anchorage Opera, and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro for her debut with Amarillo Opera. Additional engagements include a Holiday concert with the Salisbury Symphony.
Ms. Emerson is a veteran of the Metropolitan Opera, having 220 performance credits there in featured roles such as The Dew Fairy (Hänsel and Gretel), Barbarina (Le nozze di Figaro), Laura (Iolanta), and her signature role of Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, for which she holds the record for the most performances in Metropolitan Opera history. She has been seen in the Met’s Live in HD series broadcasting to movie theaters worldwide as Papagena on multiple broadcasts, Giannetta (L’elisir d’amore), and Laura Fleet in the American premiere of Marnie by Nico Muhly.
In the 2024-25 season, Ashley sang the Farmer in the Vivaldi pastiche The Seasons with a libretto by Sarah Ruhl at Boston Lyric Opera, returned to the Metropolitan Opera for Papagena, sang songs of Haydn with the Brooklyn Art Song Society, and performed a Valentine’s Pops concert with the Aiken Symphony.
In the 2023-2024 season Ms. Emerson debuted with numerous organizations: The Cleveland Orchestra as Papagena, Boston Lyric Opera as Jeannette in The Anonymous Lover, and Kentucky Opera as Gretel in Hänsel and Gretel. Ashley has performed major roles with companies nationwide including Atlanta Opera, Cedar Rapids Opera, Central City Opera, The Dallas Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, Greensboro Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Omaha, Opera North, OnSite Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Pittsburgh Opera, Tanglewood Festival Orchestra, Seattle Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and Washington National Opera. She made her European debut in 2016 as Cunegonde in Candide with Theâtre Capitole de Toulouse and Opera National de Bordeaux, and has toured Russia with the Turne Agency in concerts celebrating the centennial of Leonard Bernstein’s birth.
In concert Ms. Emerson has appeared on numerous occasions with the Brooklyn Art Song Society, the Castleton Festival, the Missouri Chamber Music Festival, The Bangor Symphony Orchestra, The New Choral Society, and ChoralArt of Maine, among others.
Ms. Emerson is a proud Maine native. She received her training at The University of Southern Maine School of Music, the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera, The Gerdine Young Artist Program at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and the Marlboro Music Festival.