JoAnna Vladyka - Mezzo

Lauded for her “winning performance” by Opera News, mezzo-soprano JoAnna Vladyka (she/her) is best known for her dynamic instrument and character-driven versatility on the stage.

This season, JoAnna made her company debut with New Orleans Opera as Soeur Mathilde in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites. She will be making her role debuts as both Carmen and Mercedes in Carmen with New York Opera Forum. Ms. Vladyka also continued her signature recital concert series, I AM WOMAN, which looks at the complex perceptions of women from the Dark Ages to the Present through the music of all female composers/librettists.

A frequent vocal competition contender, JoAnna recently won the American International Music Competition (First Prize – 2026), The London Classical Music Competition (First Prize – 2026), and La Marianne Competition (First Prize – 2025), and has placed in the final rounds of many other prestigious international competitions.

JoAnna spent the 2024-2025 season appearing in Seattle Opera & On Site Opera’s collaboration productions of Lucidity as Dr. Klugman (cover). She also performed the National Anthem with the Washington Nationals (MLB). In her 2023-2024 season JoAnna sang Countess Ceprano and Maddalena (cover) in Rigoletto with Regina Opera, The Collector in On Site Opera’s two workshops of Melissa Tien and Lisa DeSpain’s new American Opera, The Song of the Nightingale, La Frugola (cover) in On Site’s Il Tabarro, and as Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte in On Site’s Opera in the Garden series.

Other notable appearances include Isabella in Zandonai’s Giuletta e Romeo with Teatro Grattacielo, Die Hexe in Hänsel und Gretel with Playground Opera, Ninetta (cover) in New Amsterdam Opera’s I Vespri Sicilliani, Mrs. Gobineau in City Lyric Opera’s The Medium, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with Long Island Lyric Opera (cover), both Leonor in La Favorite and the titular role of Rinaldo with New York Opera Forum, Dame Hannah in Ruddigore and Lady Blanche in Princess Ida, both with Village Light Opera Group, El Gato in El gato con botas with Kansas City Opera Institute, and #3 in Conrad Susa’s Transformations with Kansas City Metro Opera.

NEW WORKS

A proponent of new works, JoAnna has taken part in the world premiere of Laura Kaminsky and David Cote’s Lucidity in co-production with Seattle Opera and On Site Opera as Dr. Klugman

(cover). She sang the role of The Collector in two workshops of Lisa DeSpain and Melissa Tien’s The Song of the Nightingale with On Site Opera. JoAnna also premiered the role of Opera Singer in VOYEUR: The Windows of Toulouse-Lautrec with Bated Breath Theatre Company, New York’s only recurring live production during the pandemic arts shutdown.

RECITALS

JoAnna continuously performs her signature recital concert series, I AM WOMAN, across the United States and Europe. The recital looks at the complex perceptions of women from the Dark Ages to the Present through the music of all female composers/librettists.

COMPETITIONS

Ms. Vladyka is a finalist in the 2026 Medici International Music Competition (announcement forthcoming, August 2026). She won First Prize in the American International Music Competition 2026, as well as First Prize in the London Classical Music Competition 2026. In 2025, she won the Premiere Prix à l’unanimité in the La Marianne Competition and was a Finalist in the Vienna International Music Competition that same year. JoAnna was a Finalist in the SAS Performing Arts Competition in 2023.

PROGRAMS & MORE

Ms. Vladyka has participated in the young artist programs of OpernFest Prague, Taos Opera Institute, and Orvieto Music. She has performed the National Anthem with the Washington Nationals (MLB) at Nationals Park. JoAnna is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, where she received her Master of Music

in Vocal Performance. She also holds her Bachelor of Music from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.