Thomas Meglioranza (born October 7, 1970, New York, New York) 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 baritone.

Biography

Meglioranza was born to an American father of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

descent and a Thai mother. Meglioranza grew up in the northern New Jersey towns of

Teaneck Teaneck () is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 39,776, reflecting an increase of 516 (+1.3%) f ...

and Wayne. He began taking voice lessons at

Grinnell College Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1846 when a group of New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College. Grinnell has the fifth highest endowment-to-stu ...

, and received a MM from the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music ...

. He is an alum of the training programs at the Aspen, Tanglewood, Bowdoin, Pacific Music Festivals and the Ravinia Festival's Steans Institute, and has been a participant at the

Marlboro Music Festival The Marlboro Music School and Festival is a retreat for advanced classical training and musicianship held for seven weeks each summer in Marlboro, Vermont, in the United States. Public performances are held each weekend while the school is in ses ...

. He has studied with Elizabeth Mannion, Carol Webber, Beverley Peck Johnson, and Fred Carama. He was a winner of the 2002 Joy in Singing Competition, the 2002 Concert Artists Guild Competition, the 2003 Franz Schubert/Music of Modernity Competition in Graz, placed second in the 2005 Walter Naumburg Competition, and is a frequent song recitalist (most often with pianist Reiko Uchida). He is known for quirky programs (e.g. Schoenberg and His American Pupils, 24 "Italian" Songs and Arias), and for talking to audiences from the stage.With Playful Wit, Thomas Meglioranza Shares His Old Favorites
Steve Smith, July 26, 2006,

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

His 2009 recital of Songs from the World War I Era was named one of the Philadelphia Inquirer's "Best Classical Performances of the Year". In 2007, he and Uchida recorded a CD of songs by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...

that was praised by German baritone

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's Lieder, ...

.Thomas Meglioranza Selected Discography
retrieved September 6, 2012 His discography also includes orchestral songs of Virgil Thomson with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, a period instrument album of French mélodies (including Gabriel Fauré's

La bonne chanson La Bonne Chanson is a Canadian publishing and independent record label that is "dedicated to the dissemination of French and French-Canadian songs of quality". It was founded in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada Canada is a country in ...

Winterreise ''Winterreise'' (, ''Winter Journey'') is a song cycle for voice and piano by Franz Schubert ( D. 911, published as Op. 89 in 1828), a setting of 24 poems by German poet Wilhelm Müller. It is the second of Schubert's two song cycles on Müller' ...

with Reiko Uchida, and a reconstructed Bach cantata with the Taverner Consort. In 2009, he was appointed Visiting Artist in Voice at the

Longy School of Music Longy School of Music of Bard College is a private music school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1915 as the Longy School of Music, it was one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston region along with the New En ...

in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He sings a great deal of modern music, including the 2008 Tanglewood premiere of

John Harbison John Harris Harbison (born December 20, 1938) is an American composer, known for his symphonies, operas, and large choral works. Life John Harris Harbison was born on December 20, 1938, in Orange, New Jersey, to the historian Elmore Harris Harbi ...

's ''Symphony no. 5'' with the

Boston Symphony The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

, and

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Musi ...

Eight Songs for a Mad King ''Eight Songs for a Mad King'' is a monodrama by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies with a libretto by Randolph Stow, based on words of George III. The work was written for the South-African actor Roy Hart and the composer's ensemble, the Pierrot Player ...

with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and is particularly associated with the music of Milton Babbitt, Aaron Jay Kernis, Charles Wuorinen,

György Kurtág György Kurtág (; born 19 February 1926) is a Hungarian classical composer and pianist. He was an academic teacher of piano at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music from 1967, later also of chamber music, and taught until 1993. Biography Györ ...

, Derek Bermel, Jorge Martín, and

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...

. His operatic repertoire includes Mozart's Count Almaviva, and Don Giovanni, Fritz in

Die tote Stadt ' (German for ''The Dead City''), Op. 12, is an opera in three acts by Erich Wolfgang Korngold set to a libretto by Paul Schott, a collective pseudonym for the composer and his father, Julius Korngold. It is based on the 1892 novel '' Bruges-la-Mo ...

, as well as many roles in modern works such as Chou En-Lai in John Adams'

Nixon in China ''Nixon in China'' is an opera in three acts by John Adams with a libretto by Alice Goodman. Adams's first opera, it was inspired by U.S. president Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China. The work premiered at the Houston ...

, Prior Walter in

Peter Eötvös Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a two-part play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The work won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play, and the Drama Desk Award f ...

, Celestus in Louis Karchin's Romulus, Memphis in Donald Crockett's The Face, and the title role in Gordon Shi-Wen Chin's '' Mackay─The Black Bearded Bible Man''.

External links

Thomas Meglioranza's Official Website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meglioranza, Thomas 1970 births American operatic baritones American people of Thai descent Eastman School of Music alumni Grinnell College alumni American people of Italian descent Living people American people of Polish descent 21st-century American opera singers 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers People from Teaneck, New Jersey People from Wayne, New Jersey Singers from New Jersey Classical musicians from New Jersey