Soprano

Anticipated to "become a valuable presence in the early-music world" (Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe), Ms. Watson has garnered acclaim for additional performances with Boston Baroque as the soprano soloist in Handel's Messiah and Purcell's Fairy Queen and King Arthur. She has also appeared as a soloist on numerous occasions with the Handel & Haydn Society, including Bach's Christmas Oratorio, Handel's Gloria and Laudate pueri Dominum; and has been featured on two of their commercial recordings: All is Bright, a holiday album, and Peace, which debuted at #5 on Billboard Magazine's Top Classical Charts. Ms. Watson has also made regular appearances with Emmanuel Music on their weekly Bach cantata series, in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (2nd Lady/2nd Witch) in collaboration with the Mark Morris Dance Group, and was awarded a prestigious Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellowship for their 2007-2008 season. Other awards include the Oratorio Society of NY Solo Competition (Semi-Finalist), the American Bach Society Vocal Competition (Finalist), the Louisville Bach Society Competition (3rd Place), and the Joy in Singing Competition (Semi-Finalist).

Opera audiences have heard Ms. Watson in productions with Boston Lyric Opera (Hansel and Gretel/Sandman & Dewfairy; Thais/Actress & Nun), Opera Boston (The Crucible/Sarah Good), the Boston University Opera Institute (A Midsummer Night's Dream/Tytania; Die Fledermaus/Adele; The Medium/Monica), Intermezzo Opera (The Old Maid and the Thief/Laetitia), and the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh (The Cunning Little Vixen/Frog & Spirit of the Vixen). She also recently sang in the North American premiere of Peter Eötvös' opera Angels in America with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.

Equally at home as a popular artist, Ms. Watson was featured as the headlining artist with the Boston Pops on their "Mozart's Greatest Hits" program as well as their "Holiday Pops" series, both at Symphony Hall under conductor Keith Lockhart. She has performed as a featured artist alongside the internationally renowned tenor Mario Frangoulis; as the headlining artist for the July 4th celebration concert in Salem, MA; and has sung back-up for Barry Manilow in a concert at Boston's Tweeter Center. Her regional music theater performances include Carousel (Carrie) with the Reagle Players starring Shirley Jones, Nat Chandler, and Sarah Pfisterer; The King and I (Tuptim) with East Carolina Summer Theater starring Justin Deas; Titanic (Eleanor Widener) with the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse; Into the Woods (Witch) with Carnegie Mellon University; and How to Succeed in Business... (Miss Jones) with Topeka Civic Theatre. Other favorite roles performed include Annie (Grace), The Boy Friend (Dulcie), Barnum (Joice Heth), and Hello, Dolly! (Minnie).

Other solo performances include the Carmel Bach Festival, the Aston Magna Festival, the Cactus Pear Music Festival, and the White Mountain Bach Festival, as well as the Cape Cod Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Evansville Philharmonic, New Bedford Symphony, Topeka Symphony, Napa Valley Youth Symphony, Pittsburgh Camerata, and the Columbus Bach Ensemble. An enthusiastic supporter of new music, Ms. Watson can also be found frequently premiering works of new composers, such as the members of Altavoz, a Latin-American consortium of composers living in various cities around North America and Europe.

Ms. Watson is originally from Topeka, Kansas, and holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and Boston University.