BIO
Photography by Jiyang Chen; Hair+Makeup by Erdan Li
Entrenched in a multitude of styles, Canadian-American soprano Molly Netter enlivens complex and beautiful music, both old and new. Noted for her “natural warmth” (LA Times) and “clear, beautiful tone” (NY Times), Molly’s voice can be heard on six GRAMMY-nominated albums since 2017.
Highly sought after as a soloist, recent season engagements include solo debuts with the New York Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Julia Wolfe’s “Steel Hammer” at Carnegie Hall, the premiere of Katherine Balch’s Illuminate with the California Symphony, Reena Esmail’s “the History of Red” with the Albany Symphony, as well as solo appearances with both the Fort Worth and Johnstown Symphonies for Handel’s Messiah. Recent recording releases include David Lang’s “little match girl passion” for solo quartet on Cantaloupe music, gallant music from “the New Spain” recorded in Madrid with Camerata Antonio Soler on Orchid Classics, a video concert of 16th century song with Voices of Music in Berkeley, CA, and Handel’s Israel in Egypt with Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra, which was nominated for a GRAMMY in 2025.
Upcoming solo engagements in the 2025-26 season include Bach’s B Minor Mass with the San Antonio Philharmonic, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Bach Society of St. Louis, a new program with Voices of Music featuring baroque and medieval music with a world premiere, and Praetorius’s Christmas Vespers with Apollo’s Fire, among others. Next season also includes release of Amy Beth Kirsten’s composer portrait album, featuring a world premiere piece written for Netter on self-accompanied clavicytherium alongside works written for Sō Percussion and Sandbox Percussion.
Other performance highlights include the US and Japanese premieres of ‘prayers for night and sleep’ by David Lang conducted by Joe Hisaishi at Carnegie Hall and in Tokyo. Netter has also been presented as soloist by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Early Music Festival, New World Symphony, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Bang-on-a-Can All Stars, and on tour in Japan, Singapore and Burma under Masaaki Suzuki.
Consistently engaged in early and new music, Molly was a featured curator/performer on Trinity Wall Street’s 2019 “Time’s Arrow Festival,” leading an eclectic evening of Barbara Strozzi paired with newly commissioned works. In 2020 she began commissioning an entirely new repertoire for self-accompanied singer and clavicytherium, working with composers to emphasize the florid voice, early music vocal techniques and improvisation.
Molly holds a BM in composition and contemporary voice from Oberlin Conservatory and an MM in early music voice from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. She currently teaches on the voice faculty with James Taylor and Dame Emma Kirkby at the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute.
“...a natural warmth from soprano Molly Netter.””