Hailed by The New York Times for her “delirious abandon”
onstage, versatile soprano MELISSA FOGARTY has been enjoying a banner year
in both opera and concert. In March, she made an auspicious debut at New York
City Opera, in the leading role of Soprano I (Cupid/Venus/Honor) in Mark Morris’s
production of Purcell’s King Arthur, conducted by Jane Glover. April
brought a return engagement with the Seattle Baroque Orchestra at Benaroya
Hall, where Ms. Fogarty starred as Serpina in a semi-staging of Pergolesi’s
La serva padrona and was cited by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for her “bright
attractive soprano and ample technique.”
In May, Ms. Fogarty impressed public and critics alike in VOX, City Opera’s
annual showcase of new American operas, performing Dice Thrown, a virtuosic
one-woman "aleatoric soundscape" by John King, and participating
in a roundtable discussion on singing new music, with renowned colleagues
Lauren Flanigan and Emily Pulley. Only weeks later, at Symphony Space, she
performed the world premiere of the demanding new song cycle A Field Manual,
written especially for her, baritone Chris Pedro Trakas, and the Fireworks
Ensemble by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Del Tredici. On June 24,
she will give another world premiere: Christopher James’s Five Sappho
Fragments, for soprano and chamber orchestra, with the esteemed new music
ensemble North/South Consonance, conducted by Max Lifchitz.
A favorite of Del Tredici, Ms. Fogarty figured prominently in his 70th Birthday
celebrations in 2007. She performed his dazzling song cycle Miz Inez Sez (with
the composer at the piano) at Sarah Lawrence College, his flamboyant monodrama
Dracula at Brooklyn Conservatory, and his Grammy Award-nominated Paul Revere's
Ride with the Canticum Novum Singers. Sought after by numerous other composers
and new music groups, Ms. Fogarty has also recently performed of The New Math(s)
by Louis Andriessen with the highly regarded ensemble Sequitur at Merkin Concert
Hall and roles in new operas by Sorrel Hayes, Marc Lowenstein, and Tom Schnauber
in City Opera’s 2007 and 2008 VOX festivals.
Ms. Fogarty is also much in demand for her lively and elegant interpretations
of Baroque and Classical-period music. Her many credits in this repertoire
include Clorinda in Monteverdi’s Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda
with New York’s Metropolis Ensemble (2006); La Poésie in Charpentier’s
Les Arts florissants with Concert Royal in New York and Dallas (2002), Oberto
in Handel’s Alcina with New York’s Vertical Player Repertory company
(2001, 2002), the Israelitish Woman in Handel’s Judas Maccabeus and
soprano soloist in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the St. Paul’s
Chamber Orchestra at Columbia University (2000); and other roles with New
York Collegium, Teatro Bacchino in San Francisco, the Berkeley Early Music
Festival, and the Yale Center for British Arts.
In 2006, Ms. Fogarty was honored with an Outmusic Award for “Best Solo
Debut – Female” for her cantata album Handel: Scorned and Betrayed,
(Albany Records). The distinguished singer/musicologist Julianne Baird commented,
“Melissa Fogarty’s depiction of these strong-willed, decisive
women of history is red-blooded, exciting, and passionate. She brings to bear
an exquisite sense of style for this repertoire.” Ms. Fogarty’s
other recordings include Scarlatti’s Agar et Ismaele esiliati with the
Seattle Baroque Orchestra (Centaur Records) and Forbidden Dance with Ensemble
for the Seicento, an album of 17th-century music in which she both sings and
plays the baroque guitar (Musicians Showcase).
Ms. Fogarty has earned awards including the Adams Fellowship at the Carmel
Bach Festival and the Giorgio Cini Foundation Fellowship for study in Venice.
She recently was a finalist in the 2008 vocal competition sponsored by Classical
Singer magazine.
Ms. Fogarty’s wide range of musical experience began with appearances
as child soloist at the Metropolitan Opera (including the Shepherd in Tosca
in a telecast with Luciano Pavarotti and Montserrat Caballé), New York
City Opera (the major role of Marcantonio in the New York premiere of Dominick
Argento’s Casanova’s Homecoming), and Sarasota Opera (Flora in
Britten’s Turn of the Screw). She received a Bachelor of Music Degree
in Applied Voice from the Eastman School of Music, and her eclectic resume
grew to embrace such diverse genres as rock, Klezmer, and musical theatre,
in addition to classical repertoire.
For further information on Ms. Fogarty, including sound and video clips, please
visit her website, melissafogarty.com.
To download a hard copy of the
bio, please click here for the downloads page.
Copyright © 2008 Melissa Fogarty. All Rights Reserved.
Last update July 3, 2008
