Elza van den Heever will be adding three new roles to her repertoire during Oper Frankfurt’s 2012/13 season: Elisabetta in concert performances of Maria Stuarda (a role with which she then made her debut with at the Metropolitan Opera in New York), Elektra in Idomeneo and Duchess Hélène in Die sizilianische Vesper/The Sicilian Vespers - both new productions. This young artist joined the ensemble at Oper Frankfurt in 2008/09 after making her triumphal European debut here as Giorgetta in Puccini’s Il trittico a year before. Roles with which she has enjoyed great success here since then include Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello, Antonia in Hoffmanns Erzählungen/The Tales of Hoffmann, Elisabeth de Valois in Don Carlo, Elsa von Brabant in Lohengrin, Anna Bolena (title role, in concert) and Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito - she is one of the most sought after singers in the world. Her first main role was Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), which she sang at short notice in 2007 in San Francisco, where she was a member of the Merola Program. She went on to sing the role in Frankfurt, Arizona, Santa Fe and Hamburg. Elza van den Heever won the 2008 International Wagner Competition in Seattle. She is a regular guest at the Opéra National de Bordeaux (title role in Alcina, Elettra in Idomeneo, the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos and Leonora in Il trovatore) and other recent engagements have taken her to the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich (Elsa von Brabant), the Opéra National de Paris (Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte), Theater an der Wien (Agathe in Der Freischütz), Dallas Opera (Fiordiligi) and Lyric Opera of Chicago (Armida in Rinaldo).