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The American soprano, Sonja DuToit Tengblad, studied with Anton Armstrong and Sig Johnson at St. Olaf College, graduating in 2006. While still a student, she was discovered during a visit from German maestro Helmuth Rilling, who came in April 2004 to the Twin Cities to receive an honorary doctor of fine arts degree and to lead a performance of Johannes Brahms' German Requiem. So taken was he with Tengblad's voice that he invited her to join the Stuttgart Festival Choir and Orchestra, which he founded in 2001. This was the beginning of her musical career. She was awarded 2nd place in the 2014 American Prize competition’s art song and oratorio division.
Sonja Tengblad is a versatile performer, with credits spanning the Renaissance era through the latest music of the 21st century. Described as “radiant” by Opera Magazine, her recent highlights include Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 14 with A Far Cry, Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Boston Philharmonic, Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Boston Landmarks Orchestra; Drusilla & Fortuna in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and La Fortuna & Giunone in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (Grammy-nominated recording with Linn Records), Abra and Ozias in Antonio Vivaldi's Juditha triumphans, and First Lady in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with Boston Baroque; J.S. Bach's St. John Passion (BWV 245) and 2nd Fairy & Juno in Purcell’s Fairy Queen and 2nd Woman in Dido and Aeneas with the Handel and Haydn Society; Francesca Caccini's Alcina with the Boston Early Music Festival; George Frideric Handel's Messiah with the Rhode Island Philharmonic; guest appearances with the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus and Minnesota’s Bach Roots; Sister Dolcina in Puccini's Suor Angelica with the Lorelei Ensemble and the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and her Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center debuts, both with the New York City Chamber Orchestra.
A champion of new music, Sonja Tengblad co-curated Modern Dickinson, a touring program featuring all 21st century settings of Emily Dickinson’s poetry that was named the #3 Best Arts Event in Austin, Texas 2015 and nominated for four Austin Critic’s Table Awards. She has premiered and recorded two works with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and in 2015 premiered Shirish Korde’s Questions for the Moon with members of the Silk Road Ensemble. A highlight for her was appearing in a concert celebrating the 80th birthday of composer Dominic Argento (in attendance) for which the Minnesota Star Tribune reported her to have given “the most affective performance of the evening”. In 2017 she co-founded the soprano/percussion duo Beat Song with percussionist Jonathan Hess.
Sonja Tengblad performs with the Lorelei Ensemble, Blue Heron, and the Grammy-winning ensemble Conspirare and their national tours of Considering Matthew Shepard. Upcoming highlights include a national tour of Julia Wolfe’s Her Story with Lorelei (co-commissioned by Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra), as well as a climate change-centered program with Calliope’s Call, Boston’s premiere art song organization.
In 2019, Sonja Tengblad founded Beyond Artists, a coalition of artists that pledge a portion of their concert fees to organizations they care about. With every performance she supports climate change work through Eden Reforestation Project or the Environmental Defense Fund in addition to Braver Angels, an institution that cultivates effective bipartisan conversation. She teaches at Wellesley College and is the founder and coordinator of Mothers Out Front East Boston, fighting for a livable climate for all children. She currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts. |
