Less than two years after her professional debut, American soprano Angela Meade has quickly become recognized as one of the outstanding
vocalists of her generation. The New Yorker hailed her as "a lavishly gifted young soprano who sings across a very wide range with uncommon
beauty and strength of tone…this fast rising soprano will undoubtedly have many triumphs". Angela Meade excels in the most demanding heroines
of the nineteenth century bel canto repertoire as well as in the operas of Verdi and Mozart.
Angela joined an elite group of history's singers when she made her professional operatic debut on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera as Verdi's
Elvira in Ernani substituting for an ill colleague in March 2008. Ronald Blum of the Associated Press wrote of the debut, "she showed a vibrant voice
with nice color and an assured technique and sang like an old pro from start to finish." She had previously sung on the Met stage as one of the
winners of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a process that is documented in the film The Audition recently released on
DVD by Decca. The New York Times noted Angela Meade as "an impressive soprano who powered out a 'Casta diva' from Bellini's Norma that left
everyone breathless."
Angela's 2009/10 season includes a return to the Metropolitan Opera as Mozart's Countess in Jonathan Miller's production of Le Nozze di Figaro
under the baton of Fabio Luisi. She also covers the notoriously difficult title role in Rossini's Armida. Ms. Meade will also be at the San Francisco
Opera covering Konstanze in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Angela's summer is highlighted by a return to The Caramoor Festival to
perform the iconic title role in Bellini's Norma conducted by Will Crutchfield. She sings the role at her alma mater, the Academy of Vocal Arts, in
concert performance.
Photo: Marty Sohl: Metropolitan Opera
Recently Ms. Meade has been adding to her repertoire with initial performances of three of Donizetti's greatest roles, Elisabetta in Roberto
Devereux at the Dallas Opera and the title roles of Anna Bolena and Lucia di Lammermoor at AVA. She also recently triumphed in the title role of
Rossini's challenging Semiramide at the Caramoor Festival.
Past operatic credits include Agathe in Der Freischütz, the title role in Handel's Agrippina, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Mme. Herz in Der
Schauspieldirektor, The Queen of the Night and First Lady in Die Zauberflöte, and Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus. On the concert stage, Angela
recently sang Strauss' Vier letzte Lieder with Symphony in C at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center, Poulenc's Gloria in New York City with The Little
Orchestra Society, Rossini's Stabat Mater with the Academy of Vocal Arts, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with both the Pasadena Symphony and the
Monmouth Civic Chorus, Verdi's Requiem and Handel's Messiah with the Pacific Lutheran University Symphony and Vivaldi's Gloria with the Santa
Monica Chamber Orchestra.
Angela has triumphed in an astounding number of vocal competitions, fifty-three in all including many of the opera world's most important
prizes. In addition to being a winner at the 2007 Met National Council Auditions, she was the first singer ever to take first prize in both the opera
and operetta categories of Vienna's prestigious Belvedere Competition as well as the International Press Prize and the La Scala Prize chosen by its
artistic administrator. Angela also garnered the largest cash prize in the world of opera, the $50,000.00 first prize of the Jose Iturbi Competition. She
also triumphed at the Concours Musical International de Montreal in 2009 winning the grand prize, audience choice and a recording contract from
Analekta. She is also a first prize winner of The Richard Tucker Foundation Competition, The Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Competition, The
George London Competition, The Liederkranz Foundation Competition, the National Opera Association Competition, the Opera Index Competition,
the Marguerite McCammon Competition, the Giargiari Bel Canto Competition and the Eleanor Lieber Awards. Ms. Meade's long list of awards and
honors also includes second place at the Loren L. Zachary Competition and the Fritz & Lavinia Jensen Foundation Competition, international grand
finalist in the World Voice Masters Competition in Monaco, and Young Artist of the Year in the National Association of Teachers of Singing of Los
Angeles Competition. Also a winner of the Astral Artists' 2007 National Auditions, Astral presented her at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center in Strauss'
Four Last Songs, with Symphony in C, conducted by Philadelphia Orchestra Associate Conductor, Rossen Milanov. She is a native of Washington
state and currently resides in Philadelphia.