Adrianne Pieczonka, OC ( ; born March 2, 1963) is a Canadian operatic soprano singer. Life and career Pieczonka was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, and grew up in Burlington, Ontario. She graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1985, and from the Opera School of the University of Toronto in 1988. She made her professional stage debut with the Canadian Opera Company in 1988 singing The Female Prisoner in Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtensk. She moved to Europe in 1988 and quickly won first prize at the International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands as well as First Prize at the International Singing Competition in La Plaine-sur-Mer, France, also in 1988. She became a member of the Vienna Volksoper in 1989 where her roles included Countess Almaviva (The Marriage of Figaro), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Laura (Der Bettelstudent) and Tatyana (Eugene Onegin). In 1991 she became a member of the Vienna State Opera where her roles included Desdemona (Otello), Antonia (The Tales of Hoffmann), Micaëla (Carmen), Die Tochter (Cardillac), Agathe (Der Freischütz), Countess Almaviva, Donna Elvira and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Ellen Orford (Peter Grimes), Eva (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), title role in Arabella, Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos, and The Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier). She moved to London, England in 1995, and made her British debut at Glyndebourne as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, returning there for Arabella in 1996. She made her debut at the Royal Opera House as Donna Anna in 2002. Pieczonka moved back to Toronto, Canada in 2005 and performed regularly with the Canadian Opera Company. Her roles over many years have included Mimi (La bohème), Sieglinde (Die Walküre), Elisabetta (Don Carlo), Leonore (Fidelio), the title role in Tosca, and Amelia (Un ballo in maschera). She was awarded a Dora Award for her outstanding portrayal of Sieglinde in the 2004 production of Die Walküre. She debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2004 as Lisa in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades. At the MET she has also performed Sieglinde (Die Walküre), Amelia (Simon Boccanegra), Chrysothemis (Elektra), Leonore (Fidelio) and Madame Lidoine (Dialogues des Carmélites). Pieczonka has performed with the world's leading opera companies for over three decades. Some of these include the Bavarian State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Berlin State Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Zurich Opera, Teatro Real, Liceu, Teatro Arriaga, Paris Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Los Angeles Opera, Teatro Colón, San Francisco Opera,