above: Holly at Carnegie Hall performing Handel’s Messiah
Leading lady—and soccer mom—Holly Sorensen returns to Greenwich to hit the stage
You could say that opera singer Holly Sorensen found her voice in Greenwich. The mezzo soprano, who has delivered soaring high notes in concert halls around the world, was just shy of her fourteenth birthday when her family moved to Greenwich from Tucson, Arizona.
Besides the culture shock of transplanting from the more laidback Southwest, “It was probably about the worst age possible to be the new girl,” Sorensen recalls of the move initiated by her Economics professor father taking a Wall Street job. “I might as well have moved to Paris, I felt so out of place.”
But there were a few things that gave Sorensen a much-needed reprieve from all that new-girl awkwardness.
One was competitive swimming. The other was singing under the tutelage of the late Deborah O’Brien, Sorensen’s Greenwich Academy music teacher and eventual close friend. “She was my first real voice teacher and now, looking back, I realize what a blessing she was.” Not only did O’Brien recognize Sorensen’s enormous talent, she also “had the good sense to let my voice develop naturally. She understood that every voice is unique. It’s not like a violin. It has to develop its own sound. She let that happen.”
O’Brien also invited the talented eighth grader to sing with the GA’s Madrigal Singers, an honor reserved for high school students. Between singing and the many hours Sorensen spent swimming laps in local pools, she settled in. “It was through coaches and teachers that I found my footing and, eventually, the friendships I needed. Now I love Greenwich and still call it home.”
Which is why Sorensen’s upcoming performances with the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra will be a welcome homecoming. She’ll join the GSO on May 31 and June 1 for its final concerts of the season, which will feature a rousing performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony performed alongside the Greenwich Choral Society. The concert at the Greenwich Performing Arts Center takes place on the grounds of Sorensen’s alma mater, Greenwich High School, where she transferred in tenth grade.
While Sorensen makes frequent trips to Greenwich from her current home on Florida’s West Coast to visit her parents and friends (several of whom are Greenwich Choral Society members), she is excited to be one of three soloists featured in a program well-suited to her lofty range. “It’s Beethoven, and for a big dramatic mezzo soprano, that’s just so much fun because I really get to belt.”
“To have Holly perform with us makes this even more special because it will be a concert performed by the community, for the community,” says Suzanne Lio, executive director of the GSO.
While Sorensen is an established performer with resume highlights that include such diva parts as the title role in Carmen, The Mother in Hansel & Gretel and Suzuki in Madame Butterfly, she is candid that her path to success in the hyper-competitive opera world has sometimes been a circuitous one. “If anything, my career is a testimony to the power of just hanging in there,” she says.
After Greenwich High, Sorensen went to Indiana University on a swimming scholarship, choosing the school because it could accommodate her dual talents. But she soon found her voice and sports training in conflict.
The irony, Sorensen notes, is that “opera singing made me a better swimmer and vice versa. The breath work for singing calls on the diaphragm, and so does swimming,” she explains. “But I was rubbing shoulders at the pool with all these Olympic-level athletes. I couldn’t perform in shows and practice and compete on that level. And it became pretty clear, pretty quickly, I had to give up one.”
She transferred to Wesleyan University, where she could still swim on its less demanding Division 3 team, but also commute to New York for voice training and performances, discovering her natural affinity for mezza soprano roles.
“The mezza gets to play the bitch, the witch or the boy,” she says. “Some singers might hate it, but I’ve always been drawn to it. You get to run around the stage with a wig on being all dramatic. And the fun thing about hitting those high notes is it’s not too different from yelling at your 12-year-old to clean up his room or do his homework.”
To make her point, the mother of four spontaneously hits some notes that could reach the rafters of a cavernous concert hall to demonstrate how she sounds when she means business at home. It’s a hilarious musical aside indicative of the bold character she brings to the stage. “I’ve found when you’re leaning into who you are, the audience really connects with you and comes along; and then, it’s a better experience for everyone.”
Which brings her back to parenting. Sorensen’s two girls and two boys’ range in age from nine to 16. She describes her family life more “low-key soccer mom than high-strung soprano mom.” She offers that parenting has sometimes limited her ability to take on high-profile roles that require transcontinental travel and long-term commitments, but Sorensen says her life choices have only amplified her love of singing.
“Opera can be a mean business, but I’ve mellowed, and I think that being a mother and the maturity that comes with age—and living a full life—has actually made me a better performer,” she says. “I now have experiences and emotions that come from all these lived experiences that just make me feel things more deeply. When you are younger, you don’t know enough yet. Your head gets in the way and you’re thinking things like, Will I hit that note? Now, I just go for it.”
Which reminds Sorensen of one of Deborah O’Brien’s most enduring lessons. “When you’re not overthinking, the voice knows exactly what to do.”