Of Joyce El-Khoury’s recent debut as Imogene (Il pirata) with the Opéra National de Bordeaux, Opéra magazine wrote, “…The infinite length of the breath, the science of chiaroscuro, the projection of the treble, the quality of the pianissimi, the variety of accents, in turn authoritarian and vulnerable, including in extraordinarily lively recitatives, as we had not heard them since Maria Callas."
The Lebanese-Canadian soprano reprised the role to close out her 2017-18 season at the Theater St. Gallen. Her summer season involved two internationally anticipated world premieres: Donizetti's L’Ange de Nisida (recorded for international release) at the Royal Opera House and Franz Liszt's newly discovered opera Sardanapalo with the Weimar Staatskapelle. She is quickly gaining a reputation for bringing rarely performed works to life. Next season brings her back home to the Canadian Opera Company (Tatyana, Eugene Onegin), to Opera Australia (Mimì, La bohème) and back to the Welsh National Opera for her continued exploration of Donizetti's bel canto queens (Elisabetta, Roberto Devereux). Ms. El-Khoury’s discography includes two rare Donizetti operas (Les Martyrs and Belisario) conducted by Sir Mark Elder – both to critical acclaim. She also has a solo disc, Écho, with The Hallé, conducted by Carlo Rizzi.