Verónica Villarroel González is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

. In 1989 she won 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 ...

. She studied singing with

Ellen Faull Ellen Hartla Faull (14 October 1918 – 2 December 2008) was an American operatic soprano and voice teacher.Stabler, David"Ellen Faul: Singer, Teacher, Inspiration" ''The Oregonian'', 9 December 2008Cummings, David M.Faull, Ellen ''International W ...

at the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

. Villarroel was born in

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated Regions of Chile, region, t ...

to Gueraldo Villarroel and Luisa González. She went to school at 'Instituto Anglo Chileno' (now 'Colegio Anglo Maipu') and then she studied publicity at university, but pursued a career in music in Santiago and then in New York. She was apprenticed to the opera diva,

Renata Scotto Renata Scotto (born 24 February 1934) is an Italian soprano and opera director. Recognized for her sense of style, her musicality, and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation. Since r ...

while studying in the Juilliard School's Young Artist Program. Villarroel also has a younger sister, Maria Isabel (Maribel) Villarroel-Contador who is also a classical music singer. She currently teaches voice students in Santiago. In 2009 she sang at the "Festival de Viña del Mar" where she won all the prizes of the festival (silver torch, golden torch and silver seagull) She debuted at 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 operat ...

in the role of Mimì in

La Bohème ''La bohème'' (; ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions ''quadri'', ''tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe G ...

in 1991 and sang that role twenty times. She sang there the role of Violetta in

La Traviata ''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...

in 1993 (19 times), the roles of Liù in

Turandot ''Turandot'' (; see below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, posthumously completed by Franco Alfano in 1926, and set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. ''Turandot'' best-known aria is "Nessun dorma", whi ...

and Micaela in

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

in 1996, Marguerite in Faust in 1997, Lina in

Stiffelio ''Stiffelio'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, from an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. The origin of this was the novel ''Le pasteur d’hommes'', by Émile Souvestre, which was published in 1838. This was adapted into the F ...

in 1998, Nedda in

I Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, "Clowns") is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who mu ...

and Margherita/Elena in

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 libret ...

in 1999, Cio-Cio-San in

Madama Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story "Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Luther ...

in 2001, Elizabeth of Valois 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 Friedri ...

in 2002 and Luisa in

Luisa Miller ''Luisa Miller'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play ''Kabale und Liebe'' (''Intrigue and Love'') by the German dramatist Friedrich von Schiller. Verdi's initial idea for ...

in 2006.

External links

Official site
Living people Chilean operatic sopranos Year of birth missing (living people) Juilliard School alumni Winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions 20th-century women opera singers 21st-century women opera singers Singers from Santiago Voice teachers Chilean music educators Chilean women music educators 20th-century Chilean women educators 20th-century Chilean educators 21st-century Chilean women educators 21st-century Chilean educators {{opera-singer-stub