Soprano Jana Holzmeier has been praised by reviewers as a “delightful performer,” possessing “celestial” sound, “impeccable phrasing and a keen sense of character.”  The Austin American-Statesman described her as a performer who could “stir up a few goosebumps with her vocal power and expression; just when you thought she had reached her limit, she found something in reserve.” On the operatic stage, she has appeared as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Laurie in The Tender Land, the Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia, Nella in Gianni Schicchi, Antonia in The Tales of Hoffmann, Mary in Randall Thompson’s The Nativity and Nedda in Pagliacci.  Ms. Holzmeier has been named an Emerging Young Artist at the Victoria Bach Festival in Victoria, TX, and was a Young Artist/Apprentice for the Austin Lyric Opera.

Ms. Holzmeier is currently an Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Vocal Activities at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, NE.  A native of Kirksville, Missouri, she began voice lessons at age fourteen as a student of Kathleen Dawson.  She received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Northeast Missouri State University, and subsequently graduated from Indiana University with a Master’s Degree in Vocal Music Performance, studying with Dale Moore.  She has a Doctoral of Musical Arts Degree in Vocal Music Performance from The University of Texas at Austin, where she was a student of Darlene Wiley.

Ms. Holzmeier has appeared as a soloist onstage at Avery Fisher Hall with New York’s Westside Orchestra.  She has also performed with Abendmusik––Lincoln, the Lincoln Symphony, the Voices of Omaha, the Axtell Area Oratorio Society, Lincoln Civic Orchestra, Lincoln Municipal Band, the Victoria Bach Festival, the New Texas Festival, Chamber Music Quad Cities, the Quad City Symphony, and the Quad Cities Mozart Festival.  Her orchestral repertoire includes Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne, Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn, Copland’s Old American Songs, Barber’s Knoxville:  Summer of 1915.  Ms. Holzmeier’s oratorio roles include Handel’s Messiah, Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem, Mozart's Requiem, the Poulenc Gloria, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, and Magnificat, and the Fauré Requiem.