Margaret Lloyd

Last updated

Margaret Lloyd (born 1973) is an American soprano who is particularly known for her performances in contemporary operas and concert works. She has sung in the world premieres of several operas, most notably portraying the role of Lightfoot McClendon in the premiere of Carlisle Floyd's Cold Sassy Tree at the Houston Grand Opera in 2000. [1] She has also sung in the world premieres of several works by composer Michael Torke.

Biography

Lloyd was born and raised in Ames, Iowa. She graduated from Ames High School in 1991 and then entered Northwestern University where she earned a bachelor's degree in vocal performance in 1995. [2] In 1996 she joined the Young American Artists Program at Glimmerglass Opera, making her professional opera debut with the company that year as Margret Borden in Jack Beeson's Lizzie Borden . [3] The following year she played Curley’s Wife in Glimmerglass's production of Carlisle Floyd's Of Mice and Men . [4]

In 1999 Lloyd returned to Glimmerglass Opera again to appear in the world premieres of three one act operas that were presented together under the title Central Park. For this production she portrayed the role of Jessica in Deborah Drattell and Wendy Wasserstein's The Festival of Regrets , the role of The Daughter in Michael Torke and A.R. Gurney's Strawberry Fields, and the Woman with sun reflector in Robert Beaser and Terrence McNally's The Food of Love . The works were also presented with the same casts at the New York City Opera that year. [5] She also sang as a soloist in the world premieres of Aaron Jay Kernis's Garden of Light and Michael Torke's Four Seasons with the New York Philharmonic, the New York Choral Artists, and the American Boychoir under conductor Kurt Masur at Avery Fisher Hall. [6] In addition, Lloyd sang the role of Gretel in Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel with Chicago Opera Theater. [7]

In 2000 Lloyd portrayed Cunegonde in Leonard Bernstein's Candide at Central City Opera. [8] She also appeared at the Houston Grand Opera (HGO) as Lightfoot McClendon in the world premiere of Carlisle Floyd's Cold Sassy Tree , a role which she recorded and reprised at the Austin Lyric Opera (2001), Utah Opera (2003), Opera Carolina (2003), and Opera Omaha (2004). [9] [10] [11] In 2001 she portrayed the roles of Pamina in The Magic Flute and Amy in Mark Adamo's Little Women at the HGO. The latter performance was recorded live for broadcast on PBS's Great Performances and subsequently released on CD and DVD. [12] That same year she performed the role of Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore with Santa Fe Opera and sang the world premiere of Michael Torke's Four Proverbs as Alice Tully Hall, later singing the premiere of the chamber orchestra version of that work with the American Composers Orchestra at Zankel Hall in 2005. [13] [14] In 2002 she portrayed the role of Sophie in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier with Opera Carolina [15] and Cunegonde in Candide with Portland Opera. [16]

Related Research Articles

Carlisle Floyd

Carlisle Floyd is an American opera composer. The son of a Methodist minister, he has based many of his works on themes from the South. His best known opera, Susannah (1955), is based on a story from the Biblical Apocrypha, transferred to contemporary, rural Tennessee, and is set in a Southern dialect.

Houston Grand Opera

Houston Grand Opera (HGO), located in Houston, Texas, was founded in 1955 by German-born impresario Walter Herbert and Houstonians Elva Lobit, Edward Bing, and Charles Cockrell. HGO's inaugural season featured two performances of two operas, Salome and Madama Butterfly. David Gockley succeeded Walter Herbert as general director in 1972 and remained in the post until accepting the general directorship at San Francisco Opera in 2005.

New York City Opera Opera company based in New York City, United States

The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013, and again since 2016 when it was revived.

Glimmerglass Festival

The Glimmerglass Festival is an opera company which was founded in 1975 by Peter Macris and presents an annual season of operas at the Alice Busch Opera Theater on Otsego Lake eight miles (13 km) north of Cooperstown, New York, United States.

Little Women (1998) is the first opera written by American composer Mark Adamo to his own libretto after Louisa May Alcott's 1868-69 tale of growing up in New England after the American Civil War, Little Women. The opera also includes text by John Bunyan, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Alcott herself.

Patricia Neway was an American operatic soprano and musical theatre actress who had an active international career during the mid-1940s through the 1970s. One of the few performers of her day to enjoy equal success on both the opera and musical theatre stages, she was a regular performer on both Broadway and at the New York City Opera during the 1950s and 1960s.

Patricia Racette

Patricia Lynn Racette is an American operatic soprano. A winner of the Richard Tucker Award in 1998, she has been a regular presence at major opera houses internationally. Racette has enjoyed long-term partnerships with the San Francisco Opera, where she has been a regular performer since 1989, and with the Metropolitan Opera, where she has performed since 1995. Also active on the concert stage, Racette has appeared with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. She also received the award for Best Opera Recording for her performance in the Los Angeles Opera's production of The Ghosts of Versailles at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.

<i>Cold Sassy Tree</i> (opera)

Cold Sassy Tree is an opera composed by Carlisle Floyd, based on the 1984 novel by Olive Ann Burns.

Stephanie Novacek is an American operatic mezzo-soprano who has appeared at many of the world's opera houses. A regular performer at the Houston Grand Opera and Opera Atelier, Novacek is especially known for her performances in contemporary operas and in obscure operas, particularly baroque works, outside of the standard repertory. Opera News has described her voice as a "rich, seamless flow of solid silk" and an actress "with always a strong presence on stage".

Chad Shelton is an American operatic tenor. Particularly associated with the Houston Grand Opera (HGO), Shelton has excelled in performances of contemporary American operas and in the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Giuseppe Verdi. He has appeared in numerous world premieres with the HGO including Laurie in Mark Adamo's Little Women (1998), Nico in Adamo's Lysistrata (2005), and Ulises in Daniel Catán's Salsipuedes: a Tale of Love, War and Anchovies (2004) among others. He also sang the role of Brigadier General Edward Porter Alexander in the world premiere of Philip Glass's Appomattox at the San Francisco Opera (2007).

Daniel Belcher is an American operatic baritone who has sung at many of the world's leading opera houses. He notably portrayed the role of John Brooke in the world premiere of Mark Adamo's Little Women and played the role of Andy Warhol in the premiere of Michael Daugherty's Jackie O, both with the Houston Grand Opera (HGO). He is particularly admired for his portrayal of Rossini heroes with Dandini in La Cenerentola and Figaro in The Barber of Seville being two of his signature roles.

Regina Sarfaty, later "Regina Sarfaty Rickless" after her marriage to Elwood A. Rickless in 1963, is an American operatic mezzo-soprano who had an active career during the 1950s through the 1980s. Sarfaty first rose to prominence through her work at the Santa Fe Opera and the New York City Opera during the late 1950s. She later enjoyed international success in the 1960s and 1970s, and had a particularly lengthy career singing with the Zurich Opera.

Michelle DeYoung American opera singer

Michelle DeYoung is an American classical vocalist who has an active international career performing in operas and concerts.

Lauren Flanigan is an American operatic soprano who has had an active international career since the 1980s. She enjoyed a particularly fruitful partnership with the New York City Opera, appearing with the company almost every year since 1990. She has sung more than 100 different opera roles on stage during her career, often appearing in contemporary works or more rarely staged operas. Opera News stated that, "Flanigan has enjoyed one of the most distinctive careers of any artist of her generation, one marked by a high volume of contemporary works. Modern composers love her because of her innate musicality, dramatic power and lightning-fast skills and instincts."

William Burden (tenor)

William Burden is an American opera singer (tenor). Since his professional debut at the San Francisco Opera in 1992, he has performed in lead roles in North America and Europe.

Patrick Summers

Patrick Summers is an American conductor best known for his work with Houston Grand Opera (HGO), where he has been the artistic and music director since 2011, and with San Francisco Opera, where he served as principal guest conductor, 1999–2016.

Frank Porretta Jr. was an American tenor who had an active career performing in operas, musicals, and concerts from 1952 through 1971. He had a particularly fruitful relationship with the New York City Opera from 1956 to 1970 where he sang a highly diverse repertoire; including roles in new operas by composers Norman Dello Joio, Carlisle Floyd, Vittorio Giannini, and Robert Ward. For the NBC Opera Theatre he portrayed The Astronaut in the world premiere of Gian Carlo Menotti's Labyrinth.

Andrea Carroll is an American soprano who has had an active international career in concerts and operas since 2012. A finalist in the 2015 Operalia, The World Opera Competition, she is particularly known for her performances with the Houston Grand Opera and the Vienna State Opera.

Angela Brower

Angela Brower is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer from Arizona. She is known for performing trouser roles, such as the title role of Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss in the opera's Colombia premiere.

Heidi Stober

Heidi Stober is an American operatic soprano who has performed leading roles in major opera houses internationally, including the Dutch National Opera, the Garsington Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, the Municipal Theatre of Santiago, the Semperoper, and the Vienna State Opera. She has been particularly active with the Houston Grand Opera where she has performed in more than a dozen operas since 2004, including the world premieres of Daniel Catán's Salsipuedes: a Tale of Love, War and Anchovies (2004), Mark Adamo's Lysistrata (2005), and Ricky Ian Gordon's The House without a Christmas Tree (2017). She has also performed in more than ten operas with the San Francisco Opera since 2010. Since 2008 she has been a resident artist at the Deutsche Oper Berlin where she has primarily performed roles from the lyric soprano repertoire. Also active as a concert soprano on the international stage, she has performed with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic, and the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest among other orchestras. She is particularly admired for her interpretations of the works of George Frideric Handel and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

References

  1. ↑ Greenwood, Cynthia (April 20, 2000). "A Georgia Peach Carlisle Floyd's adaptation of Cold Sassy Tree is a comic song of the South". Houston Press . Retrieved March 28, 2009.
  2. ↑ Bullock, Jayne (December 11, 2003). "Ames artist, musician return to share talents". Mid-Iowa News. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
  3. ↑ Tommasini, Anthony (July 23, 1996). "MUSIC REVIEW;Revenge in Mind and Ax in Hand, Lizzie Borden's Back". The New York Times . Retrieved March 28, 2009.
  4. ↑ Tommasini, Anthony (August 19, 1997). "Listening for Inner Truths At the Glimmerglass Opera". The New York Times . Retrieved March 28, 2009.
  5. ↑ Holland, Bernard (November 15, 1999). "CITY OPERA REVIEW; Park Bench Habitues Play Out Life in Song". The New York Times . Retrieved March 28, 2009.
  6. ↑ Griffiths, Paul (October 11, 1999). "MUSIC REVIEW; Disney 'Millennium Symphonies'". The New York Times . Retrieved March 28, 2009.
  7. ↑ Opera News, 1999
  8. ↑ Opera News, 2000
  9. ↑ Cold Sassy Tree at www.newmusicon.org Archived 2012-02-13 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ Polgar, Robi (January 13, 2001). "Cold Sassy Tree: One Gol-Durned Town". The Austin Chronicle . Retrieved March 28, 2009.
  11. ↑ Opera News, 2003
  12. ↑ Tommasini, Anthony (August 29, 2001). "TELEVISION REVIEW; Lyricism but Few Modern Bits for the March Sisters". The New York Times . Retrieved March 28, 2009.
  13. ↑ Midggette, Anne (November 14, 2005). "A Daredevil Spirit, and Acrobats in Contemporary American Fare". The New York Times . Retrieved March 28, 2009.
  14. ↑ Griffiths, Paul (January 31, 2001). "IN PERFORMANCE: CLASSICAL MUSIC; 9 Composers Share a Festival But Follow Their Own Paths". The New York Times . Retrieved March 28, 2009.
  15. ↑ Opera News, Der Rosenkavalier
  16. ↑ Opera News, 2002
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.