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PRESS
"Zoie Reams gave a compelling performance in the role of the Beggar Woman. She shifted between crass comedy and haunting heartbreak, popping up throughout the story and appearing in flashbacks as Benjamin Barker’s wife. Reams displayed both physical and vocal versatility in the role, and her tragic demise delivered a cruel climax to Todd’s tale."
SCHMOPERA
LATELY:
Two Black Churches
Collaborative Art Institute of Chicago (CAIC) Art Song Festival 2022
"Before that, in the festival’s first two programs, mezzo-soprano Zoie Reams more than commanded Ganz — she seemed to be able to control the amount of light and oxygen altogether in that hallowed hall. Will Liverman’s recording of Okpebholo’s “Two Black Churches” last year remains essential listening, as was bass-baritone Damien Geter’s live performance at MusicNOW in March. But neither brought the fierce, eternal flame of a mother’s love to “Ballad of Birmingham,” sung from the perspective of a woman who loses her daughter to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. That was for Reams, and Reams only. The pregnant silence afterward hung in the air like a prayer."
Le Compte Ory, Lyric Opera of Chicago 2022
"Mezzo Zoie Reams was a rich-voiced and imposing presence as Ragonde."
La traviata, Lyric Opera of Chicago 2019
"Flora Bervoix (the boldly exuberant mezzo-soprano Zoie Reams)..."
NEW & NOTEWORTHY NOW
Opera News Schedule Updates
December 2021
"Zoie Reams finishes up performances as Lily in the Met’s run of Porgy and Bess (Oct. 31–Dec. 12); the role marked her debut at the house. On January 16, the American mezzo arrives in Washington, D.C., for a recital at the Phillips Collection, and in May, she goes to Minnesota Opera, where she’ll sing Carmen in a new production by Denyce Graves."
Sweeney Todd , Des Moines Metro Opera 2021
"Zoie Reams gave a compelling performance in the role of the Beggar Woman. She shifted between crass comedy and haunting heartbreak, popping up throughout the story and appearing in flashbacks as Benjamin Barker’s wife. Reams displayed both physical and vocal versatility in the role, and her tragic demise delivered a cruel climax to Todd’s tale."
Platée, Des Moines Metro Opera 2021
"Reams only appeared on stage for two short occasions, but she was captivating for every second of them. When she descended from the heavens, full of fury and shooting sparks, it was easy to see how a mortal would tremble at her wrath."
MARIAN
Marian's Song
Houston Grand Opera 2020
"Former HGO Studio Artist Zoie Reams sang the title role with grace and conviction, with a very flush lower register and a great sense of dramatic poise. She was ideal for conveying Marian’s not overly optimistic, yet constantly self-assured character."
FLORA
La traviata
Lyric Opera of Chicago 2019
"Among the rest of the cast, Zoie Reams offered a gorgeous, rounded mezzo-soprano in her Lyric debut as Violetta’s friend Flora.”
"The classy American mezzo-soprano Zoie Reams was pleasantly diverting as the hostess, Flora.”
"Zoie Reams’s rich mezzo-soprano and unruffled grace made for a distinctively poised Flora Bervoix"
CLARICE
La Pietra del Paragone
Wolf Trap Opera 2017
"Among many excellent vocal discoveries is mezzo-soprano Zoie Reams, who as Clarice displayed a powerful, honeyed tone, the registers fluently joined from bottom to top and with flawless runs. She used different vocal colors and stage mannerisms to distinguish her female persona from the soldier masquerade Clarice takes on, pretending to be her twin brother."
"The marquess Clarice (Zoie Reams, with a thick, warm mezzo-soprano and clean coloratura)”
"As the genuine Clarice, who wins Asdrubale's heart, velvety mezzo Zoie Reams phrased with elegance and articulated coloratura nimbly.”
Bastianello , Wolf Trap Opera 2017
"Mezzo-soprano Zoie Reams, who was a knockout in the June production of a Rossini rarity, had the best musical moment in Musto’s score. “Life! Life!,” a boozy number with a walking bass and swing-infused wind writing, turns into a duet and then a trio, and Reams sang it with flawless style and intonation, willing to use a range of vocal color all the way to downright ugly. Richard Ollarsaba was in fine voice in the title role, a groom so disgusted with the ignorance of his bride and parents that he goes on a search for people more stupid."
The Crucible, The Glimmerglass Festival 2016
"Young Artist Zoie Reams’s sultry mezzo-soprano turned the slave Tituba’s Act IV aria into a moment of voluptuous respite."
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