Dramatic soprano Carol Yahr has been acclaimed in performances with the Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bastille Opera, Seattle Opera, Norwegian Opera, Australian Opera, Washington Opera and the Scottish Opera. Since singing her first Wagnerian soprano role (Eva in Die Meistersinger in Seattle), Yahr has gone on to sing all the important roles of this repertoire. She has appeared as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser in Hamburg and Berlin, as Ortrud in Lohengrin in Berlin, Leipzig and Seattle, as Sieglinde in Die Walküre with Scottish Opera, as Kundry in Parsifal with the Bonn Opera and in Santiago, Chile. She has sung the role of Isolde in Tristan und Isolde for the Opéra National de Paris, Scottish Opera, Australian Opera, Washington Opera, for companies in Copenhagen, Honolulu and Prague, and in concert with Lorin Maazel at Carnegie Hall in New York and Pittsburgh. In 1996, Yahr sang Brünnhilde in her first complete Ring cycle in a new production mounted by the Oslo Opera. This production was brought to Norwich, England and her performance was described by the London Times as "a triumph". In December of 1999, Ms. Yahr appeared as Brünnhilde in the complete Ring at the Berlin State Opera under Daniel Barenboim.
Carol Yahr began her career as a mezzo-soprano making her European debut in 1987 as Venus in a new production of Tannhüuser in Cologne, Germany. She appeared as Fricka in Das Rheingold and Die Walküre in a Ring Cycle at L'Opéra de Nice, which was also performed in Paris at Théatre Champs Élysées in 1988. Yahr also won high praise for her portrayal of Didon in Berlioz' Les Troyens in Nice in 1989. Yahr made her debut in the soprano repertoire with the Seattle Opera in 1989 when she appeared as Eva in Die Meistersinger. The following year, she sang her first performances of Leonore in Beethoven's Fidelio in Innsbruck and made her United Kingdom debut in the same role with the Glyndebourne Touring Company in the autumn of 1990. She also returned to Innsbruck to sing both Venus and Elisabeth in a new production of Tannhäuser in the spring of 1991 and received particular international attention when she appeared as Sieglinde in Scottish Opera's 1991 production of Die Walküre. The London Times wrote: "Yahr, particularly, develops throughout the evening into a remarkable Wagnerian, glorious in her final outburst, 'O hehrstes Wunder'."
Carol Yahr made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1993 as Leonore in Fidelio and has also appeared in the role in concert performances presented by the Glyndebourne Festival under Roger Norrington and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival under Christophe Eschenbach. Yahr also appeared at the Metropolitan as both Cassandre and Didon in Les Troyens under James Levine. She has been heard in concert as Cassandre in Toulouse under Michel Plasson and as Genièvre in Chausson's Le Roi Arthus in Amsterdam under Edo de Waart.
Ms. Yahr sang the role of Isolde in Tristan und Isolde in a new production at the Prague National Theater, as well as Brünnhilde in Gotterdammerung at the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste, Italy. In the fall of 2003, Ms. Yahr added the role of Kostelnicka in Jenufa to her repertoire in highly praised performances in The Netherlands. OPERA Magazine wrote, "Her expressive face, energetic singing and terrific concentration created a memorably tragic figure."
For four seasons, Ms. Yahr participated in the Shaker Mountain Opera Festival as performer, teacher and Resident Artist. At the 2004 festival, she made her debut as a stage director with a new production of Faust. In the summer of 2005, Ms. Yahr in collaboration with conductor and vocal coach Joshua Greene began a summer opera program for young singers, New York Summer Opera Scenes. She also maintains an active, private voice studio in New York City.