Joelle Lachance

Mezzo Soprano and Stage Director

Hailing from Fly Creek, NY, Joelle was drawn to music and singing from a young age. She performed in her first musical at the age of six and continued to cultivate her craft from there. She received a Bachelors of Music is Music Education with a concentration in Music History and Voice from Nazareth College in 2013, graduating magna cum laude and with an award in Choral Conducting. She continued her education at Nazareth College, graduating with a Masters of Science in Music Education with a concentration in Voice a year later. Wanting to focus on performance, Joelle pursued a second masters degree, this time in Historical Performance from Boston University, graduating with distinction in 2016. She recently completed degrees in Vocal Performance and Literature and Stage Directing from the world-renowned Eastman School of Music.

Joelle serves on faculty for the University at Buffalo Department of Theatre and Dance as a Musical Theater voice instructor.

Joelle has performed a variety of roles including Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro (Buffalo Opera Unlimited), Boy 1(Dickie) and Chickadee in Vespa (Workshop at National Opera Center), Mère Marie in Dialogues of the Carmelites (Eastman Opera Theater), der Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos (Eastman Opera Theater), Local Woman/Miserable Candidate in Candide (The Glimmerglass Festival), Mrs. Nolan in The Medium (Buffalo Opera Unlimited), il Paggio in Rigoletto (Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra), Phoebe in The Mock Marriage (Ohio Light Opera), Minnie Fay in Hello, Dolly! (Ohio Light Opera), Bellomy in The Fantasticks (Ohio Light Opera), Julie in The Ship’s Captain (The Musicians of Ma’alwick), Mrs. Ott in Susannah (Buffalo Opera Unlimited with WLEN (PBS)), Coralie in the North American premier of The Daring of Diane (Ohio Light Opera), Ernesto in The Three Billy Goats Gruff (Schmidt Opera Outreach Program with University of Kentucky), Hansel in Hansel and Gretel (Opera Theater of Connecticut, New York Lyric Opera, Viva La Musica Vermont, Nazareth College), Third Lady in The Magic Flute (Barn Opera), Lucinda in Into the Woods (Ohio Light Opera), Flora James in Girl Crazy (Ohio Light Opera), Joyce Wheeler in Fifty Million Frenchmen (Ohio Light Opera), Clorinda in Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (Cottage Industry Theater), First Spirit in The Magic Flute (The Glimmerglass Festival), Camus in King Arthur (Boston University), Oberto in Alcina (NAPA Music Festival), the Seamstress’ Son in The Happy Prince (Rochester Lyric Opera), and Calisto in La Calisto (Nazareth College). She made her European debut as Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte (Berlin Opera Academy, 2016).

Known for her engaging performances, Joelle was a winner of the NATS Fingerlakes Regional Competition in 2022, a semi-finalist in the 2019 Harold Haugh Light Opera Competition, a finalist in the 2018 Barn Opera Vocal Competition, and a winner of the 2012 Rising Stars Competition at Nazareth College. Her concert repertoire include solos in Vivaldi’s Gloria (Binghamton Downtown Singers, Voices of Cooperstown), Ravel’s Shéhérazade (Eastman School of Music), solos in Handel’s Messiah (Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, the Eastman School of Music, Voices of Cooperstown), the Missa Luba (Rochester Oratorio Society with Sankofa Dance), Mallika in Delibes’ ‘Flower Duet’ from Lakmé and Suzuki in Puccini’s ‘Flower Duet’ from Madama Butterfly for New York Lyric Opera’s Scene Program in Carnegie Hall (November 2019), and is a regularly featured soloist for the Guild of Glimmerglass’ concerts. She has sung various chamber works including Haydn’s Ariadne auf Naxos, Jacquet de la Guerre’s Semelé, and Bach’s Coffee Cantata. Masterclasses that she has participated in include programs with Susan Ashbaker, David Aronson, Julianna Gondek, and Laura Brooks Rice’s CoOPERAtive program. Her DMA lecture recital was on Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer. A student of Constance Fee, upcoming performances for Joelle include as the featured faculty soloist in Crossover Artists: A Theatre Faculty Recital at the Univeristy at Buffalo in January 2027.

In the realm of directing, Joelle is known for taking a new approach to opera to make it accessible to new audiences and engaging in new ways to returning crowds. Recent productions include Aida (Opera Southwest), In a Grove (Eastman School of Music), Bluebeard’s Castle (Hollywood Theatre, Gowanda, NY), Trial by Jury (Eastman School of Music), Joshua’s Boots (Buffalo Opera Unlimited), and a staged version of Rorem’s song cycle Evidence of Things Not Seen (Eastman School of Music). She has served as the director of Buffalo Opera Unlimited’s Opera On Tap series with Resurgence Brewery for three years.

Joelle has also served as an assistant director for Stephanie Havey (Le nozze di Figaro and Glory Denied at Finger Lakes Opera), Octavio Cardenas (World premiere of Dolores with West Edge Opera and Ainadamar at the Eastman School of Music), and Pat Diamond (Collegiate premiere of Silent Light).

In the coming months, Joelle will serves as the Director in Residence for the 2026/27 season with Buffalo Opera Unlimited. This season includes a double bill of Viardot’s Cendrillon and Ching’s Notes on Viardot as well as another Opera On Tap titled “I-Opera”, and Musto’s Rhoda and the Fossil Hunt. in November, she will serve as the visiting professor of opera at Baldwin Wallace University in Cleveland to direct their fall production of Handel’s Serse.