Joanna Simon (mezzo-soprano)

Joanna Elizabeth Simon (October 20, 1936 – October 19, 2022) was an American mezzo-soprano and journalist.

The daughter of publisher Richard L. Simon, Joanna was an elder sister of singer and songwriter Carly Simon, singer and musical theatre composer Lucy Simon, and photographer Peter Simon.

As a singer, Simon was known for possessing a distinctively "smoky-voiced mezzo-soprano".

Joanna Elizabeth Simon was born on October 20, 1936, and grew up in the Riverdale, Bronx, section of New York City.

Her father, Richard L. Simon, was the founder of the Simon & Schuster publishing company.

She had two younger sisters, singer Carly Simon and singer-composer Lucy Simon, and a brother, Peter Simon, a photographer.

She performed regularly in operas and concerts internationally from 1962 through 1986, and thereafter made only periodic performances into the late 1990s.

In 1962, she won the regional division of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Marian Anderson Award, also making her opera debut that year at the New York City Opera as Mozart's Cherubino.

As a young adult she studied at Sarah Lawrence College where she graduated with a degree in philosophy in 1962.

There, she became interested in musical theatre, and began taking voice lessons with contralto Marion Freschl, the teacher of Shirley Verrett and Marian Anderson, who reoriented her career towards opera.

She pursued further training at the Zurich-based International Opera Studio under the leadership of Herbert Graf and with composer Gian Carlo Menotti at the Spoletto Festival.

Her classmates at the International Opera Studio in Zurich included sopranos Dame Gwyneth Jones and Felicia Weathers, and one of her teachers at the institute was Lotfi Mansouri.

Simon's first opera appearance was in November 1962 with the New York City Opera in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro where she played the role of Cherubino.

That same year she won both the regional division of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Marian Anderson Award.

She competed in the national finals of the Met auditions on March 23, 1962, performing the aria "Che farò senza Euridice" from Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House.

In 1964 she performed the role of Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus at Lewisohn Stadium with Franz Allers conducting.

In 1965, she was the mezzo-soprano soloist in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the New York Philharmonic, conductor William Steinberg, and tenor Richard Cassilly.

That same year she recorded that work for Command Records, this time with Steinberg conducting the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO).

In 1966 Simon was the alto soloist in Beethoven's Mass in C major with the Philadelphia Orchestra under conductor Eugene Ormandy for performances at Carnegie Hall in New York and the Academy of Music in Philadelphia.

That same year she recorded Claude Debussy's Le Martyre de saint Sébastien with conductor Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic, and was one of the three ladies in Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Tanglewood Music Festival with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, conductor Erich Leinsdorf, and Beverly Sills as the Queen of the Night.

She created the role of Pantasilea in the world premiere of Alberto Ginastera's Bomarzo in 1967 with the Washington Opera Society (now the Washington National Opera), which brought her international fame, and she recorded the part for CBS Records.

She performed with the PSO again in 1967 as a soloist in symphonies by Gustav Mahler which the orchestra performed in Pittsburgh and on tour to New York as part of the International Festival of Visiting Orchestras.

In 1967 Simon performed in the world premiere of Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera's Bomarzo at the Lisner Auditorium in Washington, D.C., for the Washington Opera Society, creating the role of the courtesan Pantasilea.

Her performance was widely praised in the press worldwide, and the role brought her a degree of international fame.

Variety critic Larry Michie wrote in his review of the production, "Joanna Simon was enormously successful as the courtesan. She sang her seductive aria well, and has a body, very fetchingly displayed, that one can easily imagine a nobleman or anyone else paying for."

She also was a panelist on What's My Line? (1968) and made appearances on programs hosted by Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, Dick Cavett, and David Frost.

She later reprised the role of Pantasilea at Lincoln Center when the opera was staged by the New York City Opera in March 1968, and at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires in 1972.

She also recorded the part for CBS Records in 1968 with conductor Julius Rudel.

Also in 1968, Simon portrayed Countess Geschwitz in Alban Berg's Lulu with the American National Opera Company and conductor Sarah Caldwell, made her debut at the Salzburg Festival as Piacere in Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo, and starred in a concert of the music of Lerner and Loewe with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and conductor Roger Wagner at the Hollywood Bowl.

Simon was the first singer to record the role of Irene in Handel's Tamerlano; singing the part for the opera's first recording in 1970.

She also made recordings with several orchestras during her career, including the New York Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

On television she was a featured performer on the very last episode of The Ed Sullivan Show on March 28, 1971.

In 1972, she performed the title role in the world premiere of Thomas Pasatieri's Black Widow at the Seattle Opera, and in 1975 she performed the role of Pelagia in the world premiere of Robert Starer's The Last Lover at the Caramoor Music Festival.

Married to the novelist Gerald Walker from 1976 until his death in 2004, she was the companion of Walter Cronkite from 2005 until his death in 2009.

In 1984, she was a singer in the recording of her sister Carly's song "Turn of the Tide" which was commissioned by the Democratic Party for use in political campaigning, and she also performed as a backup singer on albums made by both of her sisters.

In 1985, the three sisters talked about how they each found a different niche in singing, and for Joanna it was classical music.

Joanna Simon was educated at Riverdale Country School during her youth.

After mostly retiring from singing professionally in 1986, Simon worked as the arts correspondent for PBS's MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour from 1986 to 1992.

She won an Emmy Award for her work with the program.

She later worked as a real estate broker in Manhattan with the Fox Residential Group.