Soprano Elissa Edwards is an exponent of vocal chamber music and opera of the 17th and 18th centuries hailed for her 'pliant, seductive, free-ranging voice’ (Gramophone) and her "glistening tone” (Early Music America). She is also a sacred music specialist and has been a featured soloist in many oratorio and cantata performances in the US and UK. Performance highlights include featured appearances with the Washington National Cathedral, the 2019 Barbara Strozzi Symposium at Princeton University, Gotham Early Music Series, Bach in Baltimore, American Harp Society, Amherst Early Music Festival, Yorkshire Baroque Soloists and The National Center for Early Music, UK.
She is the artist-in-residence at the Hammond-Harwood House Museum in Annapolis, MD where she organizes early music concerts in the historic ballroom. Ms. Edwards has won many awards and grants, and serves on the voice faculties of the Washington National Cathedral and The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. Her training includes studies at the Royal College of Music, London, and performance degrees from Boston University (BM) and University of York, UK (MA).
Ms. Edwards has a passion to expose modern audiences to classical music in a new light. Her greatest pleasure is presenting themed concerts, often in historic locations, in which she brings the audience into the spirit of the musical and social world of past eras. Her programs highlight underperformed, yet stunning works from the 17th & 18th centuries. Through her expressive vocal interpretations, spontaneous ornamentation and intelligent regard for communicating poetic text, she captures the hearts and sparks curiosity with her audiences.