Virginia Tola (born 1976) is an Argentine

operatic 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 ...

. While studying music at the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón (Spanish: ''Columbus Theatre'') is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acousti ...

in Buenos Aires, she won first prize in Oslo at the

Queen Sonja International Music Competition The Queen Sonja International Music Competition is a music competition for young singers taking place every two years in Oslo, Norway. The competition was arranged for the first time in 1988. Participants are selected by a screening committee on t ...

in 1999. She made her début at the Teatro Colón as Antonia in ''

The Tales of Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died ...

''. Tola has taken leading roles in operas across Europe and in the United States. She has also performed internationally in concerts, including several appearances with

Placido Domingo Placido may refer to: People Surname * José Plácido de Castro (1873–1908), Brazilian soldier and politician * Michele Placido, (born 1946) Italian actor and director *Plácido Vega y Daza, (1830-1878) 19th century Mexican general and politicia ...

Biography

Born on 15 January 1976 in

Santo Tomé, Santa Fe Santo Tomé is a city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located only 9 km from the capital city ( Santa Fe). It has a population of about 65,684 inhabitants ()and estimated at 80,000 inhabitants based on population growth rate pr ...

, Virginia Tola attended local schools. When she was eight, she took part in the Santa Fe municipal choir. She completed her training at the Teatro Colón Art Institute under Ana Sirulnik and Gustavo Valerio. Thanks to a study grant, she was able to study voice further under Guillermo Opitz. In the 1990s, two events were to influence Tola's future.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

was impressed by her voice at a meeting of Spanish-speaking delegates in early 1995. In 1999, Tola won first prize at the Queen Sonja International Music Competition in Norway. Thereafter she performed in theatres throughout Norway. In 1998, she participated in the world première of J. Deforenzi's orchestral version of ''Paráfasis''. She appeared at the Teatro Colón in the première of Juan Carlos Zorzi's ''Don Juan''. She went on to perform in Rome, Los Angeles, Madrid, Amsterdam and Brussels, singing leading roles in operas including ''

The Marriage of 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 ...

'', ''

Cosi fan Tutte Cosi, COSI or CoSi may refer to: * ''Così'', a 1992 play by Louis Nowra ** ''Cosi'' (film), 1996, based on the play * Così (restaurant), an American fast-casual restaurant chain * Compton Spectrometer and Imager, or COSI, a NASA telescope to be ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'' and ''

Nabucco ''Nabucco'' (, short for Nabucodonosor ; en, " Nebuchadnezzar") is an Italian-language opera in four acts composed in 1841 by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera. The libretto is based on the biblical books of 2 Kings, ...

''.

References

External links

Virginia Tola's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tola, Virginia 1976 births Living people Argentine operatic sopranos People from Santa Fe Province 20th-century Argentine women opera singers 21st-century Argentine women opera singers