Gianna Rolandi was born in New York in 1952, but grew up in Spartanburg from the age of three through high school. She is an internationally renowned soprano who enjoyed considerable success on opera, concert, and recital stages.

Rolandi graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 1975 and made her operatic debut that year (Olympia/The Tales of Hoffmann and Zerbinetta/Ariadne auf Naxos) with the New York City Opera, where she went on to sing more than 30 roles. Metropolitan Opera roles include Sophie/Der Rosenkavalier (debut, 1979), Olympia, Zerbinetta, and the title role/Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol. At Lyric Opera of Chicago she debuted as Dorinda in Handel’s Orlando (1986), and returned to sing Despina/Così fan tutte (1993-1994), which marked her retirement from the stage.

Rolandi has also performed with San Francisco Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Washington National Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and the Spoleto Festival in Charleston. She made her European debut in 1981 at Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Zerbinetta, followed by major European engagements in Geneva, Lyon, Paris, and at the Pesaro Festival in Italy. Orchestral engagements include appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and London Philharmonic with conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Bernard Haitink, and Erich Leinsdorf.