Shawna Avinger grew up in her father’s percussive music store, John’s Music, and no one is quite sure how she became a classical singer and not a drummer. With the Fisher Ensemble, Shawna was featured on the recording of Psyche and in the New York and Boston performances of At The Hawk’s Well. A frequent soloist with the Seattle ensemble, The Esoterics, she is featured on 7 of their CDs. Operatic roles include the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos, Countess in Marriage of Figaro, Nedda in I Pagliacci, Antonia in Tales of Hoffmann, Atalanta in Xerxes, Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito, Michaela in Carmen, and has premiered roles in ten new operas. Shawna has appeared as a recitalist and soloist in Maryland, Washington D.C., New York and Seattle. Shawna recently appeared in two operatic films as both an actor and vocalist that were shown in many film festivals (Hand of Bridge and Bachianas Brasilieras). Shawna received her Bachelor's of Music from the University of Washington in vocal performance and her Master's degree in Opera Performance from the Maryland Opera Studio. She has been working with vocal students since 2000 and is currently voice faculty at Music Center of the N.W. Her teachers have included Carmen Pelton, Linda Mabbs, Elizabeth Moore, and Charlie Riecker.

For more information see Shawna Avinger's professional web site.