Latonia Moore

Last updated
Latonia Moore
Born1979
Houston, Texas
NationalityAmerican
Education University of North Texas, Academy of Vocal Arts
Occupationopera singer
Website https://www.latoniamooresoprano.com/

Latonia Moore (born 1979, [1] [2] in Houston, Texas) is a three-time Grammy Award-winning American soprano known for her performances in the title roles of Aida and Madama Butterfly, as well as her work in Terence Blanchard's operas.

Contents

Early life and education

She grew up listening to Black music, and began singing in the church choir of the New Sunrise Baptist Church (where her grandfather Cranford Moore was a pastor) at age 8. In her youth, she sang in the Texas All-State Choir. [3]

Moore first studied gospel and jazz, until Pattye Johnstone, one of her teachers at the University of North Texas convinced her to study classical music. [4] Moore made her debut in 1998 at the Palm Beach Opera in West Palm Beach, and was engaged as a student in the same year at the Houston Ebony Opera. She continued as a student of Bill Schuman at the Academy of Vocal Arts, in Philadelphia, [5] where she graduated in 2005. In 2000 she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. [1]

Career

In New York City, Moore attracted critical praise for her 2008 performance with the Opera Orchestra of New York in Puccini's Edgar . In March 2012, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut as a late replacement for Violeta Urmana on short notice as Aida in a live broadcast. [6] She would go on to perform Aida more than a hundred times. [7]

Moore is featured on commercial recordings of the Mahler Symphony No 2 (Deutsche Grammophon 0289 474 5942 2) and of Verdi's Macbeth (sung in English, Chandos CHAN 3180(2)). [8]

In January 2016, Moore performed for the newly revived New York City Opera in Puccini's Tosca at the Rose Theater in Lincoln Center. [9] [10]

In April 2016, she sang the lead role of Cio-Cio San in the San Diego Opera's performance of Puccini's Madama Butterfly , [11] garnering critical recognition for her acting, her "rich, supple and multi-octave soprano voice" and vocal interpretation. [12] During that production, she met and became friends with mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges, and the two reunited at San Diego Opera for a concert in 2023. [7]

Moore appeared in 2018 with Opera Australia in the title role of Puccini's Tosca, delivering a critically acclaimed "complex performance" with a voice of "luxurious colour and brilliance at the top". [13]

In 2019, Moore played the role of Serena in the Metropolitan Opera's Porgy and Bess . [14] The production won Best Opera Recording at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. She also starred in the Met's Grammy-winning productions of Fire Shut Up in My Bones and Champion . [15]

Honors

YearAwardCategoryNotesRef
2000Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions [1]
2005Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year - Dallas Opera [16]
2021 63rd Annual Grammy Awards Best Opera Recordingfor the Metropolitan Opera's Porgy and Bess [15]
2023 65th Annual Grammy Awards Best Opera Recordingfor the Metropolitan Opera's Fire Shut Up in My Bones [7]
2024 66th Annual Grammy Awards Best Opera Recordingfor the Metropolitan Opera's Champion [17]

Recordings

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renata Tebaldi</span> Italian opera singer (1922–2004)

Renata Tebaldi was an Italian lirico-spinto soprano popular in the post-war period, and especially prominent as one of the stars of La Scala, San Carlo and, especially, the Metropolitan Opera. Often considered among the great opera singers of the 20th century, she focused primarily on the verismo roles of the lyric and dramatic repertoires. Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini called her voice "la voce d'angelo", and La Scala music director Riccardo Muti called her "one of the greatest performers with one of the most extraordinary voices in the field of opera."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leontyne Price</span> American soprano (born 1927)

Mary Violet Leontyne Price is an American spinto soprano who was the first African American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, where she was the first African American to be a leading performer. She regularly appeared at the world's major opera houses, including the Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and La Scala; at La Scala, she was also the first African American to sing a leading role. She was particularly renowned for her performances of the title role in Verdi's Aida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mirella Freni</span> Italian soprano (1935–2020)

Mirella Freni, OMRI was an Italian operatic soprano who had a career of 50 years and appeared at major international opera houses. She received international attention at the Glyndebourne Festival, where she appeared as Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni and as Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michèle Crider</span> American opera singer

Michèle Crider is an American lirico spinto operatic soprano. She has appeared in many of the great opera house in the world including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera and the state operas of Vienna, Munich, Berlin and Hamburg. She has sung under Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, James Levine, Nello Santi, Christoph von Dohnányi, Semyon Bychkov, Seiji Ozawa, Riccardo Chailly and Colin Davis. She is professor of vocal performance at the Mozarteum University Salzburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonietta Stella</span> Italian operatic soprano (1929–2022)

Maria Antonietta Stella was an Italian operatic soprano, and one of the most prominent Italian spinto sopranos of the 1950s and 1960s. She made her debut in Spoleto in 1950, as Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore, a year later at Rome Opera, as Leonora in La forza del destino, in 1954 at La Scala in Milan, as Desdemona in Otello, in 1955 at the Royal Opera House in London as Aida, and in 1956 at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, in the same role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmen Melis</span> Italian opera singer

Carmen Melis was an Italian operatic soprano who had a major international career during the first four decades of the 20th century. She was known, above all, as a verismo soprano, and was one of the most interesting singing actresses of the early 20th century. She made her debut in Novara in 1905 and her career rapidly developed in her native country over the next four years. From 1909 to 1916 she performed with important opera companies in the United States; after which she was busy performing at many of Europe's most important opera houses. From 1917 until her retirement from the stage in 1935 she was particularly active at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome and at La Scala in Milan. After her singing career ended, she embarked on a second career as a voice teacher. Her most notable student was soprano Renata Tebaldi.

Natalia Rom, soprano, was born in Kazan, in the Soviet Union, on May 14, 1950, and graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory. In late 1976, she emigrated to New Orleans, where she attended Loyola University's College of Music, and studied voice with Patricia Havranek. In 1979, she made her professional debut in a small role in the New Orleans Opera Association's Die Zauberflöte. That same year, she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In 1980, she sang the title role in Aïda, for the Seattle Opera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Pons</span> Spanish baritone

Joan Pons Álvarez is a Spanish operatic baritone, known internationally as Juan Pons. He is most famous for his Verdi roles.

Sylvie Valayre is a French operatic soprano known for her versatile interpretations of lyric, spinto, and dramatic coloratura soprano parts. She sings grueling roles like Abigaille, Lady Macbeth or Turandot as well as lighter pieces like Giordano's Maddalena, Cio-Cio San, or Verdi's Desdemona at major opera houses around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabriella Tucci</span> Italian operatic soprano (1929–2020)

Gabriella Tucci was an Italian operatic soprano who was particularly associated with the Italian repertory and performed at notable opera houses worldwide. She appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in 11 Verdi roles across 13 seasons, including Violetta in La traviata and Desdemona in Otello.

A spinto soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that has the limpidity and easy high notes of a lyric soprano, yet can be "pushed" on to achieve dramatic climaxes without strain. This type of voice may also possess a somewhat darker timbre than the average lyric.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ettore Panizza</span> Argentine conductor and composer

Ettore Panizza was an Argentine conductor and composer, one of the leading conductors of the early 20th century. Panizza possessed technical mastery and was popular and influential during his time, widely admired by Richard Strauss and Giacomo Puccini, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fabio Armiliato</span> Italian tenor

Fabio Armiliato is an Italian operatic tenor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances Ginsberg</span> American opera soprano

Frances Ginsberg was an American opera singer. Opera News magazine described her as "a lirico-spinto soprano of striking temperament whose vivid style made her an audience favorite at New York City Opera and other U.S. companies in the 1980s and 1990s."

He Hui, is a Chinese operatic lirico-spinto soprano known in the West and on record covers as Hui He.

Amarilli Nizza is an Italian operatic soprano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J'Nai Bridges</span> American mezzo-soprano singer

J’Nai Bridges is a two time Grammy-Award winning American mezzo-soprano. She is a winner of the Marian Anderson Award and has performed for the Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, and San Francisco Opera. BET has described her as The Beyoncé of opera.

Marco Armiliato is an Italian opera conductor.

Opera Columbus is an American professional opera company in Columbus, Ohio, founded in 1981, and is a member of Opera America. OC employs nearly 350 artists and creative professionals annually—vocalists, artisans, stagehands, costumers, and scenic designers—many of whom are members of the Columbus community.

Mirjam Tola is an Albanian operatic soprano and voice teacher. She is also an Austrian citizen.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tommasini, Anthony (2000-03-08). "Listening to the Future At the Met Auditions". The New York Times . Retrieved 2015-01-01.
  2. ↑ Tommasini, Anthony (2012-12-21). "Colorblind Casting Widens Opera's Options". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
  3. ↑ Meares, Joel (2014-09-29). "Latonia Moore back to star in her own right in Opera on the Sydney Harbour's Aida". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 2015-01-01.
  4. ↑ Story, Rosalyn M. (June 2010). "If I Could Sing Like a Daughter of God". Opera News . Vol. 74, no. 12. Retrieved 2012-04-04.
  5. ↑ David Patrick Stearns (2000-03-08). "The Voice Doctor". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Retrieved 2015-01-01.
  6. ↑ "Opera's Next Wave: Soprano Latonia Moore". Opera News . Vol. 77, no. 2. August 2012. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
  7. 1 2 3 Kragen, Pam (2023-10-22). "In harmony: Opera stars Latonia Moore and J'Nai Bridges talk Grammys, friendship, roles and what's on their playlists". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  8. ↑ Christiansen, Rupert (2014-04-24). "Verdi: Macbeth: 'sharply energised'". The Daily Telegraph . London. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
  9. ↑ Stearns, David Patrick (25 January 2016). "New York City Opera's resurrection may be right". The Philadelphia Inquirer . Retrieved Sep 16, 2019.
  10. ↑ Russell Platt (15 January 2016). "Leap of Faith". The New Yorker . Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  11. ↑ "San Diego Opera: Madama Butterfly 2015–2016 season, San Diego Opera, accessed June 20, 2016
  12. ↑ "Moore brings new dimension to Butterfly", The San Diego Union-Tribune , April 17, 2016
  13. ↑ Davies, Bridget (Apr 25, 2018). "Tosca review: Latonia Moore resplendent in modernised Puccini". The Age . Retrieved September 16, 2019.
  14. ↑ Davidson, Justin (2019-09-24). "A Gorgeous Porgy and Bess, Its Flaws Intact, at the Metropolitan Opera". Vulture. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  15. 1 2 "Latonia Moore | Artist | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  16. ↑ "Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year". The Dallas Opera. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  17. ↑ Salazar, Francisco (2024-02-04). "Metropolitan Opera & Julia Bullock Lead Classical Grammy Awards". OperaWire. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.