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Biography
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Possessing
an exciting versatility that is equally at home on opera, concert and
recital stages, Serena Benedetti’s voice has been heralded as “a
pure-toned soprano that soared radiantly in the high climaxes.”
Recent
appearances have included Susanna in Mozart’s LE NOZZE
DI FIGARO with
the Sarasota Opera, Musetta in LA BOHEME with
the Palm Beach Opera, Fiordiligi in COSI FAN TUTTE with
the Utah Symphony and Opera, and Violetta in LA TRAVIATA with
the Lake Placid Sinfonietta. She joined the roster of the New York
City Opera in the 2006 season, and has also
performed the CPE Bach Magnificat for the Sacred Music in a Sacred
Space Series at St. Ignatius Loyola in New York with Kent Tritle. Previously
there, she appeared in ST. JOHN PASSION of
J.S. Bach .Also
in 2006 she sang Handel’s MESSIAH with the
Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and in July will appear as Musetta with
the Missouri Symphony, both with Kirk Trevor conducting. |
She
debuted at Carnegie Hall last Christmas season in MESSIAH under
the baton of John Rutter. She returned there for performances with
the
New York Oratorio Society and MidAmerica Productions in repertoire
ranging from Vivaldi to Mendelssohn.
Winner
of a Marian Anderson Career Grant for Emerging Classical Artists; other
highlights of her
2004 season included
the role of Marzelline in FIDELIO with Virginia Opera, performances with
the Princeton Symphony, Greater Palm Beach Symphony Society, Lyric Chamber
Music Festival at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. |
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Her
engagements in 2003 included debuts with the Danish Radio Symphony,
Atlanta Symphony, and the Eugene Symphony Orchestras.
Massenet LA TERRE PROMISE and Gounod TOBIE
at The Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York have also
featured her in oratorios. That
summer she debuted with Lyric Opera Cleveland as Adina in L’ELISIR D’AMORE which Opera News [Online
Edition]
proclaimed her, “the evening’s highlight, fulfilling the letter and
the spirit of bel canto.”
Concluding the 2003 season were concert appearances with legendary
artist Dave Brubeck and Singing City of Philadelphia in Brubeck’s
oratorio LA FIESTA DE LA POSADA.
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Ms.
Benedetti has performed under the baton of such conductors as Alan
Gilbert, Giancarlo Guerrero, Roberto Minczuk, David Effron, and Kent
Tritle. She has also appeared
with the National Symphony, National Cathedral Choir, Lancaster Symphony,
Garden State Symphony, Palm Beach Opera Orchestra, The Maverick Music
Festival, the Songfest Series (Princeton, NJ), in venues including The
National Cathedral in Washington, DC, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert
Hall, the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York, Swarthmore College’s Lang
Hall, and Detroit Symphony Hall. She
has collaborated with members of the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia
Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, and pianists JJ Penna and Brian Zeger.
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Her
operatic repertoire in performance includes Fiordiligi COSI FAN TUTTE, Violetta LA
TRAVIATA, Marzelline FIDELIO,
Adina L’ELISIR D’AMORE,
Susanna LE NOZZE DI FIGARO,
Rose STREET SCENE,
Lucy THE TELEPHONE,
and Valencienne THE MERRY WIDOW.
Oratorios
in her performance repertoire include Bach’s MAGNIFICAT,
Beethoven’s MASS IN C
and SYMPHONY NO.
9, Handel's ISRAEL IN
EGYPT and MESSIAH,
Haydn’s THE CREATION
and HARMONIEMESSE,
and Mozart’s SOLEMN
VESPERS and REQUIEM.
Past concert appearances have featured Villa-Lobos’ BACHIANAS
BRASILEIRAS No. 5, the SIMPLE
SONGS of Aaron Jay Kernis, the BRENTANO
LIEDER (Op. 68) of Richard Strauss, Schubert’s SHEPHERD
ON THE ROCK,
and works by 20th Century composers, including David Del Tredici, William
Bolcom, Ricky Ian Gordon, Lee Hoiby and Stephen Sondheim.
Ms.
Benedetti got her start as a member of the Metropolitan Opera Children’s
Chorus, where she appeared in HANSEL
UND GRETEL, LA
BOHEME, MACBETH, LE
ROSSIGNOL and WERTHER.
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