The Times; Wigmore Hall with English Concert 2024 “Bicket had assembled something like a supergroup of singers, with Davies and Crowe joined by an ensemble including the bass Ashley Riches, the tenor James Way and the soprano Joanna Songi. He then set some hurtling tempi that might have unsettled others, but which this lot relished. Arguably the text itself is a pure demonstration of power — God’s — but I think Handel was saying that he, too, could make miracles. This was a suitably heavenly display.”
The Times; Wigmore Hall Concert with English Concert 2022 “The spotlight shifted around the eight singers, something of a luxury line-up…my ear was caught by the subtleties of vocal texture.”
The Times; Soloist with the United Strings of Europe “the highlight was Osvaldo Golijov’s Three Songs for Soprano. A moody world tour in itself, it deployed virtuosically expressive string accompaniments under a testing vocal line, superbly sustained by Joanna Songi.”
The Indepenent; Imago, Glyndebourne “Jean Rigby’s Elizabeth and Joanna Songi’s Lisette are outstandingly well sung”
Gramophone; Imago, Glyndebourne “much of the vocal burden is carried by Lisette. Joanna Songi made her mark at Glyndebourne as Flora in The Turn of the Screw, but she has a massive role here and her duet with Rigby, ‘Ice in the spring, he was barely eighteen,’ was meltingly beautiful.”
Opera Magazine; Imago, Glyndebourne “As Lisette, Joanna Songi was pert, pretty and engaging, and sang superbly.”
The Arts Desk; Imago, Glyndebourne “Her younger, or imagined younger incarnation is Lisette (Joanna Songi), a super young performer with a voice well on the way to being something special and somehow a presence to match. There was something very flesh and blood about this performance.
The Guardian; “Joanna Songi’s lyrical Lisette”
Opera Magazine; “One singer, young Joanna Songi as Flora, remained from the previous Glyndebourne performances, and she was excellent: a member of that ‘best possible cast’ that a Screw veteran fancifully assembles from mingled memories… At Glyndebourne Songi was a striking performer” The Turn of the Screw, Glyndebourne 2011
The Independent; “Joanna Songi’s Flora offers both vocal beauty and bite” The Turn of the Screw, Glyndebourne 2011
Opera Journal; “Songi in particular an impressive young talent” The Turn of the Screw, Glyndebourne 2011
The Stage; “Joanna Songi’s spirited Flora is vital and perceptive” The Turn of the Screw, Glyndebourne 2011
The Guardian; “lovely Joanna Songi reprises her role as knowing, not-so-little Flora” The Turn of the Screw, Glyndebourne 2011
The Tab; “Songi’s stunningly unaffected voice and wide-eyed acting brought out all the purity and innocence of Auden’s character. Her extensive mourning Tom’s absence was extraordinary in its control, clarity and sentimental power.” The Rake’s Progress, CUOS 2011
Opera News Magazine; “Joanna Songi, a teenaged soprano rather than the usual adult one, portrays the child Flora convincingly and touchingly; she is one of the best in this role.” Turn of the Screw CD, 2011
SCAN ”Songi has an excellent voice that flew high above the tightly-knit performance of the orchestra” LICA Chroma Ensemble concert, 2011
Varsity; “Songi’s voice has a clarity and roundness of tone that made her arias just patently beautiful” Cosi Fan Tutte, Shadwell Opera 2009
Local Secrets; “Joanna Songi as the ghost-battling governess was outstanding – by turns strong, besieged, horrified, loving, compassionate: Songi sings with her eyes creating a touching and ultimately heartbreaking performance.” The Turn of the Screw, CUOS 2009
Opera Magazine; “Joanna Songi… was radiantly pure-toned”The Finnish Prisoner, Paddock Productions 2007
Joanna Songi 