Photo Melanie Melendez
Renee Heitmann is a critically acclaimed soprano, hailed for her “clear, beautiful, angelic” sound, dramatic delivery, and ability to breathe life into the roles she takes on. She is best known for her portrayal as Anne Frank in James Whitbourn’s, Annelies, a harrowing cantata based on text from Anne’s diary. She is a frequent guest of the Mid-Columbia Symphony and Mid-Columbia Mastersingers in Washington State, and often invited back to sing in the greater Yakima River Valley. She began her teaching career as an adjunct professor of voice at Hobart William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York shortly after graduate school. She has been teaching privately here in NYC since 2011 in her private studio as well as being on faculty at Turtle Bay Music School. She has had the pleasure of artistic directing a number of choirs, finding extra joy working with seniors and the differently-abled. Renee also writes, directs, and produces musical revues, including her (almost) one woman show, Welcome to New York.
Renee resides in New York City and is a long time resident of Astoria, Queens. She holds a Masters of Music from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and a Bachelors of Music from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. When she is not making music, she is baking cookies for her kindness project/small business, Single Girl Cookies or empowering womxn with the collective she founded, Ladies FirstAstoria.