Angela Meade (born 1977) is an American

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

tic soprano.

Life and career

Born in

Centralia, Washington Centralia () is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. It is located along Interstate 5 near the midpoint between Seattle and Portland, Oregon. The city had a population of 18,183 at the 2020 census. Centralia is twinned with Ch ...

, Meade started her education at Centralia Community College before going on to earn a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice from

Pacific Lutheran University Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a private Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congregations of Region I of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ame ...

and a Master of Music degree in Voice from the

Thornton School of Music The USC Thornton School of Music is a private music school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1884 only four years after the University of Southern California, the Thornton School is the oldest continually operating arts institution in Los An ...

at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

before pursuing further studies at the

Academy of Vocal Arts The Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) is a school dedicated to providing higher education to aspiring opera singers. It is the only tuition-free institution in the world devoted solely to operatic training and performance. The school was founded in 1934 ...

in Philadelphia. She has won more than 50 vocal competitions, including the

Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition (formerly the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions) is an annual singing competition sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera. Established in 1954, its purpose is to discover, assist ...

(2007) and the Grand Prize at the

Montreal International Musical Competition The Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM) is an elite-level competition for classical musicians who are interested in pursuing an international career as a professional concert artist. Established in 2001 by the late André Bourbeau an ...

(2009). In 2011 she was awarded the prestigious

Richard Tucker Award The Richard Tucker Music Foundation, founded in 1975, carries the name of Richard Tucker. The foundation is a "non-profit cultural organization dedicated to perpetuating the artistic legacy of the great American tenor through the support and advan ...

and in 2012 she was the recipient of the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

's Beverly Sills Artist Award. Meade made her professional operatic debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Elvira in

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's '' Ernani'' in March 2008 stepping in for an ill colleague, a role she reprised with the company in February 2012, which was broadcast as part of the Met's Live in HD series and in March/April 2015. At the Met she has also performed the roles of the Countess in Mozart's ''

Le Nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

'' (2009) and the title roles in both

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''bel canto'' opera style duri ...

's ''

Anna Bolena ''Anna Bolena'' is a tragic opera (''tragedia lirica'') in two acts composed by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's ''Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena'' and Alessandro Pepoli's ''Anna Bolena'', bo ...

'' (2011) and Bellini's ''Norma'' (2013) as well as Leonora in Verdi's ''

Il trovatore ''Il trovatore'' ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play ''El trovador'' (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. It was García Gutiérrez's mos ...

'' (2013 and 2016), and Alice in Verdi's ''Falstaff'' (2013/14), conducted by

James Levine James Lawrence Levine (; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March 1 ...

, which was broadcast as part of the Met's Live in HD series and was released on DVD by

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

. Other highlights include Elena in Verdi's ''

I vespri siciliani ''I vespri siciliani'' (; ''The Sicilian Vespers'') is a five-act Italian opera originally written in French for the Paris Opéra by the Italian romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi and translated into Italian shortly after its premiere in June 1855. ...

'' with the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August ...

(2012), Fidelia in

Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...

's ''Edgar'' with Opera Frankfurt (2014), Lucrezia Contarini in Verdi's '' I due Foscari'' with

Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the D ...

(2012) and for her debut with

Teatro Real Madrid The Teatro Real (Royal Theatre) is an opera house in Madrid, Spain. Located at the Plaza de Oriente, opposite the Royal Palace, and known colloquially as ''El Real'', it is considered the top institution of the performing and musical arts in the ...

(2016), Giselda in Verdi's ''I Lombardi'' with the

Opera Orchestra of New York The Opera Orchestra of New York (also known as OONY) specializes in the performance of opera in concert form. It is particularly known for its work in presenting rarely performed repertory. Among the numerous American premieres it has presented are ...

(2013), Leonora in Verdi's ''

'' with (2015) where she also performed the title role in Rossini's ''

Ermione ''Ermione'' (1819) is a tragic opera (azione tragica) in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, based on the play ''Andromaque'' by Jean Racine. Performance history 19th century ''Ermione'' was first pe ...

'' (2015) under the baton of Rossini conductor

Alberto Zedda Alberto Zedda (2 January 19286 March 2017) was an Italian conductor and musicologist whose specialty was the 19th-century Italian repertoire. Alberto Zedda was born in Milan, Italy, where he accomplished his education in music and humanities, co ...

. She has sung Donna Anna in Mozart's '' Don Giovanni'' with Los Angeles Opera in 2012 under the baton of

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French ...

Cincinnati Opera Cincinnati Opera is an American opera company based in Cincinnati, Ohio and the second oldest opera company in the United States (after the New York Metropolitan Opera). Beginning with its first season in 1920, Cincinnati Opera has produced operas ...

in 2013 and the Metropolitan Opera in 2017. She has been a part of the

Caramoor International Music Festival The Caramoor Summer Music Festival is a music festival founded in 1945 that is held on the estate of the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, which includes a Mediterranean-style stucco villa and is located about north of New York City in Ka ...

in the title roles of Rossini's ''

Semiramide ''Semiramide'' () is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy ''Semiramis'', which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Assyria. The opera was first performed at La Feni ...

'' (2009), Bellini's ''Norma'' (2010), Donizetti's '' Lucrezia Borgia'' (2014) as well as Hélène in Verdi's ''

Les vêpres siciliennes ''Les vêpres siciliennes'' (''The Sicilian Vespers'') is a grand opera in five acts by the Italian romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi set to a French libretto by Eugène Scribe and Charles Duveyrier from their work ''Le duc d'Albe'' of 1838. ...

'' (2013) and as Imogene in Bellini's ''

Il pirata ''Il pirata'' (''The Pirate'') is an opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with an Italian libretto by Felice Romani which was based on a three-act '' mélodrame ''from 1826: ''Bertram, ou le Pirate'' (''Bertram, or The Pirate'') by Charles Nod ...

'' (2017) and performances of the title role in Mercadante's ''

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

'' at the

Wexford Festival Opera Wexford Festival Opera () is an opera festival that takes place in the town of Wexford in south-eastern Ireland during the months of October and November. The festival began in 1951 under Tom Walsh and a group of opera lovers who quickly gene ...

in 2010 For Meade's 2019-2020 season, she made a house and role debut as

Aïda ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 Decembe ...

with

Gran Teatre del Liceu Gran may refer to: People *Grandmother, affectionately known as "gran" * Gran (name) Places * Gran, the historical German name for Esztergom, a city and the primatial metropolitan see of Hungary * Gran, Norway, a municipality in Innlandet cou ...

in Barcelona; a role debut as Elisabetta in

Don Carlo ''Don Carlos'' is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the dramatic play '' Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Friedr ...

in a return to the Palacio de la Opera in Coruña, Spain; a house debut with

Teatro di San Carlo The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is an opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and adjacent ...

in Naples, Italy in the title role of Rossini's notoriously difficult

; a debut with the

Ravinia Festival Ravinia Festival is an outdoor music venue in Highland Park, Illinois. It hosts a series of outdoor concerts and performances every summer from June to September. The first orchestra to perform at Ravinia Festival was the New York Philharmonic unde ...

in Mahler's 8th Symphony under the baton of

Marin Alsop Marin Alsop ( �mɛər.ɪn ˈæːl.sɑːp born October 16, 1956) is an American conductor, the first woman to win the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is music director laureate ...

; and a debut with the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Italy for both a recital in collaboration with pianist, Giulio Zappa and as part of their gala concert under the baton of Carlo Rizzi. In addition, she will return to ABAO Bilbao for the title role of Donizetti's

; and a return to Portland SummerFest for a concert of Verdi's greatest hits. Meade's 2018-2019 season included a return to the

for her role debut as Margherita in Arrigo Boito's

Mefistofele ''Mefistofele'' () is an opera in a prologue and five acts, later reduced to four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera with music by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito (there are several completed operas for which he was libre ...

; her debut with

Seattle opera Seattle Opera is an opera company based in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1963 by Glynn Ross, who served as its first general director until 1983. The company's season runs from August through late May, comprising five or six operas of ...

as Leonora in Verdi's

Il Trovatore ''Il trovatore'' ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play ''El trovador'' (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. It was García Gutiérrez's mos ...

; a return to Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville for

's Il Trovatore and a return to

Dallas Opera The Dallas Opera is an American opera company located in Dallas, Texas. The company performs at the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, one venue of the AT&T Performing Arts Center. History The company was founded in 1957 as the Dallas Civi ...

as Alice in Verdi's

Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays '' Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...

. On the concert stage she returned to Palacio de la Opera in Coruña Spain for a special evening of arias; presented recitals both in Vancouver's Singer Behind the Song Recital Series and for the McCammon Foundation at Fort Worth Opera; as well as performances of Verdi's Requiem both with

Yannick Nézet-Séguin Yannick Nézet-Séguin, CC (; born Yannick Séguin;David Patrick Stearns, "Nezet-Seguin signs Philadelphia Orchestra contract". ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', 19 June 2010. 6 March 1975) is a Canadian ( Québécois) conductor and pianist. He ...

and the Orchestre Métropolitan in honor of Jacqueline Desmarais and for her debut with the

RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO; previously known as RTÉ Symphony Orchestra and the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra) is the largest professional orchestra in Ireland. Housed at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, since January 2022, it used ...

in Dublin under the baton of

Michele Mariotti Michele Mariotti, born in 1979 in Urbino, near Pesaro, is an Italian conductor, the ''direttore musicale'' since 2014 of Teatro Comunale di Bologna. A graduate in composition of Pesaro's Conservatorio Rossini, where he also studied orchestral con ...

. Meade's 2017-2018 season included a return to

Washington National Opera The Washington National Opera (WNO) is an American opera company in Washington, D.C. Formerly the Opera Society of Washington and the Washington Opera, the company received Congressional designation as the National Opera Company in 2000. Perform ...

for her role debut in Handel's ''

Alcina ''Alcina'' (Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis, HWV 34) is a 1735 opera seria by George Frideric Handel. Handel used the libretto of ''L'isola di Alcina'', an opera that was set in 1728 in Rome by Riccardo Broschi, which he acquired the year after during ...

''; back to back contracts at the Metropolitan Opera for the title roles of Bellini's ''Norma'' and Rossini's ''

'' (broadcast live in HD); a return to

Teatro Regio di Torino The Teatro Regio (Royal Theatre) is a prominent opera house and opera company in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. Its season runs from October to June with the presentation of eight or nine operas given from five to twelve performances of each. Several bu ...

for Giselda in Verdi's ''

I Lombardi ''I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata'' (''The Lombards on the First Crusade'') is an operatic ''dramma lirico'' in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on an epic poem by Tommaso Grossi, which was "very much ...

''; a return to Frankfurt Opera in her role debut as Cilea's '' Adriana Lecouvreur'' as well as recitals with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and Performance Santa Fe, a concert with her husband and tenor, John Matthew Myers with the Allentown Symphony and

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

's 8th Symphony with

for her debut with the

Rotterdam Philharmonic The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (RPhO; nl, Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest) is a Dutch symphony orchestra based in Rotterdam. Its primary venue is the concert hall De Doelen. The RPhO is considered one of the Netherlands' two principal orc ...

Discography

*2007: Documentary with

Jamie Barton Jamie Barton may refer to: * Jamie Barton (singer) (born 1981), American mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contra ...

, Amber Wagner, Michael Fabiano, Alek Shrader, Ryan Smith, Kiera Duffy, Dísella Làrusdóttir, Ryan McKinny, Nicholas Pallesen, Matthew Plenk; Marco Armiliato conducting

Orchestra and Chorus;

Susan Froemke Susan Froemke (born November 5, 1947) is an American film director and producer. Froemke was the associate producer and one of the editors of the influential 1975 documentary film ''Grey Gardens'', which was selected for preservation in the Natio ...

(director); released 2009

*2013:

, ''

'' (complete video recording) with Stephanie Blythe, Lisette Oropesa,

Jennifer Johnson Cano Jennifer Johnson Cano is an American operatic mezzo-soprano. Before her college education, she attended St. Pius X High School (Festus, Missouri), graduating in the Class of 2002. While in high school, she was a member of the choir, singing at Ma ...

Ambrogio Maestri Ambrogio Maestri (born 1970) is an Italian operatic baritone. He is especially known for his portrayal of the title character in Giuseppe Verdi's '' Falstaff''. He studied piano and singing in his home town, Pavia. In Italy he has performed at th ...

, Franco Vassallo, Paolo Fanale, Carlo Bosi, Keith Jameson,

Christian Van Horn Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ (title), Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive ...

;

conducting

Orchestra and Chorus; released 2015

*2015:

, ''

Le duc d'Albe ''Le duc d'Albe'' (its original French title) or ''Il duca d'Alba'' (its later Italian title) is an opera in three acts originally composed by Gaetano Donizetti in 1839 to a French language libretto by Eugène Scribe and Charles Duveyrier. Its ...

'' (complete audio recording) with Michael Spyres,

Laurent Naouri Laurent Naouri, Chevalier L.H. (born May 23, 1964) is a French bass-baritone. Initially beginning his education at the École Centrale de Lyon, Naouri decided to concentrate on opera in 1986 and continued his musical studies at the Guildhall S ...

, Gianluca Buratto, David Stout, Trystan Llŷr Griffiths, Robin Tritschler, Dawid Kimberg;

Sir Mark Elder Sir Mark Philip Elder (born 2 June 1947) is a British conductor. He is currently music director of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, England. Life and career Elder was born in Hexham, Northumberland, the son of a dentist. He played the ...

conducting Hallé Orchestra and Opera Rara Chorus; released 2016

Opera Rara Opera Rara is a London-based opera company and recording label which specialises in recording and performing forgotten operatic repertoire from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1970 by bel canto enthusiasts Patric Schmid and Don Whi ...

*2018:

, ''

Alla Prima Crociata'' (complete audio recording) with Francesco Meli, Alex Esposito, Giuseppe Gipali, Lavinia Bini, Antonio Di Matteo, Joshua Sanders, Giuseppe Capoferri, Alexandra Zabala;

conducting Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Regio Torino; released 2018

Dynamic Dynamics (from Greek δυναμικός ''dynamikos'' "powerful", from δύναμις ''dynamis'' "power") or dynamic may refer to: Physics and engineering * Dynamics (mechanics) ** Aerodynamics, the study of the motion of air ** Analytical dyna ...

Repertory

*cover

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meade, Angela 1977 births Living people Academy of Vocal Arts alumni American operatic sopranos Pacific Lutheran University alumni Richard Tucker Award winners USC Thornton School of Music alumni Winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions People from Centralia, Washington Singers from Washington (state) 21st-century American women opera singers