Carol Plantamura (born February 8, 1941 in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

) is an American soprano specializing in 17th and 20th century music. She graduated from

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...

and was an original member of the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

-funded Creative Associates at

SUNY Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

, under the direction of

Lukas Foss Lukas Foss (August 15, 1922 – February 1, 2009) was a German-American composer, pianist, and conductor. Career Born Lukas Fuchs in Berlin, Germany in 1922, Foss was soon recognized as a child prodigy. He began piano and theory lessons with J ...

. She has collaborated with such composers as

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mont ...

Vinko Globokar Vinko Globokar (born 7 July 1934) is a French-Slovenian avant-garde composer and trombonist. Globokar's music uses unconventional and extended techniques, places great emphasis on spontaneity and creativity, and often relies on improvisation. Hi ...

Pauline Oliveros Pauline Oliveros (May 30, 1932 – November 24, 2016) was an American composer, accordionist and a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music. She was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center ...

Betsy Jolas Elizabeth Jolas (born 5 August 1926) is a Franco-American composer. Biography Jolas was born in Paris in 1926. Her mother, the American translator Maria McDonald, was a singer. Her father, the poet and journalist Eugene Jolas, founded and edited ...

, Will Ogdon,

Bernard Rands Bernard Rands (born 2 March 1934 in Sheffield, England) is a British-American contemporary classical music composer. He studied music and English literature at the University of Wales, Bangor, and composition with Pierre Boulez and Bruno Mader ...

Frederic Rzewski Frederic Anthony Rzewski ( ; April 13, 1938 – June 26, 2021) was an American composer and pianist, considered to be one of the most important American composer-pianists of his time. His major compositions, which often incorporate social an ...

, and

Robert Erickson Robert Erickson (March 7, 1917 – April 24, 1997) was an American composer. Education Erickson was born in Marquette, Michigan. He studied with Ernst Krenek from 1936 to 1947: "I had already studied—and abandoned—the twelve tone sy ...

. Beginning in 1966, she was an original member of the improvising electronic music collective

Musica Elettronica Viva Musica Elettronica Viva (MEV) is a live acoustic/electronic improvisational group formed in Rome, Italy, in 1966. It is "something of an irregular institution, a band that has come together intermittently through the years". Its founding members ...

in Rome, Italy. From 1971 to 1984, Plantamura was active as a founding member, along with countertenor-composer John Patrick Thomas, cellist Marijke Verberne, and harpsichordist William Christie, of The Five Centuries Ensemble. The group combined early music with contemporary works (many written expressly for the ensemble) in concerts and radio broadcasts throughout Europe and America and on tours in Australia and New Zealand. Plantamura appears in six recordings of 17th-century Italian vocal music that The Five Centuries Ensemble made for the Fonit Cetra/Italia label in Italy (including works by d'India, Monteverdi, Luzzaschi, Gagliano, Frescobaldi, and A. Scarlatti—other ensemble members on the recordings include soprano Martha Herr, countertenor Thomas, lutenist Jürgen Hübscher, viola da gambist Martha McGaughey, and harpsichordist Arthur Haas). Plantamura joined the faculty of the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

in 1978 and is currently Professor Emerita.

, Department of Music
Carol Plantamura
/ref> She also serves on the San Diego Early Music Society (SDEMS) Advisory Pane

Discography

Includes recordings for

Composers Recordings, Inc. Composers Recordings, Inc. (CRI) was an American record label dedicated to the recording of contemporary classical music by American composers. It was founded in 1954 by Otto Luening, Douglas Moore, and Oliver Daniel, and based in New York City. ...

WERGO WERGO is a German record label focusing on contemporary classical music. It was founded in 1962 by German art historian and music publisher (1903–1975) and the musicologist Helmut Kirchmeyer. Their first release, filed under "WER 60001", was S ...

, DGG, Fonit/Cetra, and Leonarda. *1968: ''

– Accord, Pour Voix De Soprano Et 5 Solistes (1966)'' (

, WER 329) *1976: ''

Sylvano Bussotti Sylvano Bussotti (1 October 1931 – 19 September 2021) was an Italian composer of contemporary classical music, also a painter, set and costume designer, opera director and manager, writer and academic teacher. His compositions employ graphic n ...

– The Rara Requiem'' (

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

2530 754) *1978: ''

Sigismondo d'India Sigismondo d'India (c. 1582 – before 19 April 1629) was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. He was one of the most accomplished contemporaries of Monteverdi, and wrote music in many of the same forms as the more ...

– Arie Madrigali E Mottetti, The Five Centuries Ensemble'' (Italia, ITL 70026). Never before recorded or performed in the last three centuries. *1978: ''

Luzzasco Luzzaschi Luzzasco Luzzaschi (c. 1545 – 10 September 1607) was an Italian composer, organist, and teacher of the late Renaissance. He was born and died in Ferrara, and despite evidence of travels to Rome it is assumed that Luzzaschi spent the majority o ...

– Madrigali Per Cantare E Sonare, Due E Tre Soprani, The Five Centuries Ensemble'' (Fonit Cetra – ITL 70050), with the participation of soprano Martha Herr. *1979: ''

Marco Da Gagliano Marco da Gagliano (1 May 1582 – 25 February 1643) was an Italian composer of the early Baroque era. He was important in the early history of opera and the development of the solo and concerted madrigal. Life He was born in Florence and li ...

– Musiche A Una, Due E Tre Voci; Sacrae Cantiones, The Five Centuries Ensemble'' (Italia – ITL 70060). Never before recorded or performed in the last three centuries. *1979: ''

Alessandro Scarlatti Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti (2 May 1660 – 22 October 1725) was an Italian Baroque composer, known especially for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the most important representative of the Neapolitan school of opera. ...

– Quatro Cantate, The Five Centuries Ensemble'' (Italia – ITL 70065) *1979: ''Eclipse'' on: ''

Roger Reynolds Roger Lee Reynolds (born July 18, 1934) is a Pulitzer prize-winning American composer. He is known for his capacity to integrate diverse ideas and resources, and for the seamless blending of traditional musical sounds with those newly enabled by t ...

– Watershed IV / Eclipse / The Red Act Arias'' (AIX) *1980: ''

Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...

– Madrigali sacre e profane, The Five Centuries Ensemble'' (Italia / onit Cetra *1981: ''Chanson de Gest'' on: ''

Denis Smalley Denis Arthur Smalley (born 1946 in Nelson, New Zealand) is a composer of electroacoustic music, with a special interest in acousmatic music. Biography Denis Smalley studied at the University of Canterbury and Victoria University in his native New ...

– The Pulses of Time'' (University of East Anglia Recordings, UEA 81063) *1982: ''American Graffiti'' by Leo Smit on: ''The Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Lukas Foss, conductor'' (GRAMAVISION Records) *1983: ''

Girolamo Frescobaldi Girolamo Alessandro Frescobaldi (; also Gerolamo, Girolimo, and Geronimo Alissandro; September 15831 March 1643) was an Italian composer and virtuoso keyboard player. Born in the Duchy of Ferrara, he was one of the most important composers of k ...

– Musica Vocale e Strumentale, The Five Centuries Ensemble'' (Italia – ITL 70095) *1984: ''The Idea Of Order At Key West'' on: ''

– Night Music / The Idea Of Order At Key West / Pacific Sirens'' (

– CRI SD 494) *1986: ''Canti Lunatici'' on: ''

– Canti del Sol / Canti Lunatici'' (

– CRI SD 524)

Radio and television broadcasts

*1978: ''Le Journee de Paul Mefano: Cinq Madrigals and La Ceremonie'', Radio broadcast:

France Musique France Musique is a French national public radio channel owned and operated by Radio France. It is devoted to the broadcasting of music, both live and recorded, with particular emphasis on European classical music, classical music and jazz. Hist ...

. *1981: ''The Five Centuries Ensemble'', Live radio broadcast:

Radio France Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed with a wide variety of ...

. *1982: ''La Fede Sacrilega'', opera by

Johann Joseph Fux Johann Joseph Fux (; – 13 February 1741) was an Austrian composer, music theory, music theorist and pedagogy, pedagogue of the late Baroque music, Baroque era. His most enduring work is not a musical composition but his treatise on counterpoin ...

, Television broadcast from: Gesellschaft für Musiktheater (Vienna). *1983: ''Frescobaldi Quadracentenial'', six radio broadcasts by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

from the

Elvehjem Museum of Art The Chazen Museum of Art is an art museum located at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Madison, Wisconsin. The Chazen Museum of Art is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. History Until 2005, the Museum was known regularly as th ...

, Madison, Wisconsin, between June and October. *1983: ''Mai Musicale de Bordeaux'' (Music from the time of Rameau), Live television broadcast from: Clôture du Chapelle Saint-Emilion,

Books

*Plantamura, Carol (1983). ''Woman Composers''. Bellerophone Books. (a coloring/paper-doll book) *Plantamura, Carol (1996). ''The Opera Lover's Guide to Europe''. Citadell Press.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plantamura, Carol American operatic sopranos 1941 births Living people Singers from Los Angeles Classical musicians from California 21st-century American women