Latonia Moore
Latonia Moore (born 1979,[1][2] in Houston, Texas) is an American soprano. Of African-American ancestry, she grew up with Black music, and at age 8 began to sing in the church choir of the New Sunrise Baptist Church, where her grandfather Cranford Moore was a pastor. In her youth, she sang in the Texas All-State Choir.[3]
Moore first studied gospel and jazz, until one of her teachers at the University of North Texas convinced her to study classical music.[4] Moore made her debut in 1998 at the Palm Beach Opera in West Palm Beach, and was engaged as a student in the same year at the Houston Ebony Opera. She continued as a student of Bill Schuman at the Academy of Vocal Arts, in Philadelphia,[5] where she graduated in 2005. In 2000 she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
In New York City, Moore attracted critical praise for her 2008 performance with the Opera Orchestra of New York in Puccini's Edgar. In March 2012, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut as a late replacement for Violeta Urmana on short notice as Aïda in a live broadcast.[6]
Moore is featured on commercial recordings of the Mahler Symphony No 2 (Deutsche Grammophon 0289 474 5942 2) and of Verdi's Macbeth (sung in English, Chandos CHAN 3180(2)).[7]
In January 2016, Moore performed for the newly revived New York City Opera in Puccini's Tosca at the Rose Theater in Lincoln Center.[8][8][9]
In April 2016, she sang the lead role of Cio-Cio San in the San Diego Opera's performance of Puccini's Madama Butterfly,[10] garnering critical recognition for her acting, her "rich, supple and multi-octave soprano voice" and vocal interpretation.[11]
Selected awards and prizes
- 2000: Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions
- 2002: first prize for soprano at the Licia Albanese Puccini Competition
- 2002: first prize and audience award "Internationalen Gesangswettbewerbs der italienischen Oper Dresden", Germany
- 2003: first prize and audience award at Concours International d'Opéra in Marseille
- 2003: special prize "Kammeroper der Internationalen Hans Gabor Belvedere Gesangswettbewerbe"
- 2005: Richard Tucker Foundation Grant
References
- ↑ Anthony Tommasini (2000-03-08). "Listening to the Future At the Met Auditions". New York Times. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
- ↑ Anthony Tommasini (2012-12-21). "Colorblind Casting Widens Opera's Options". New York Times. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
- ↑ Joel Meares (2014-09-29). "Latonia Moore back to star in her own right in Opera on the Sydney Harbour's Aida". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
- ↑ Story, Rosalyn M (June 2010). "If I Could Sing Like a Daughter of God". Opera News. 74 (12). Retrieved 2012-04-04.
- ↑ David Patrick Stearns (2000-03-08). "The Voice Doctor". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
- ↑ "Opera's Next Wave: Soprano Latonia Moore". Opera News. 77 (2). August 2012. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
- ↑ Rupert Christiansen (2014-04-24). "Verdi: Macbeth: 'sharply energised'". Telegraph. Retrieved 2015-01-01.
- 1 2
- ↑ "Reviving the New York City Opera". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2016-01-20.
- ↑ San Diego Opera: Madama Butterfly 2015-2016 season San Diego Opera, accessed June 20, 2016
- ↑ Moore brings new dimension to ‘Butterfly’ San Diego Union Tribune, April 17, 2016
External links
- Official webpage of Latonia Moore
- Askonas Holt agency page on Latonia Moore
- Hamburg State Opera German-language biography of Latonia Moore
- The Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, Past Winners - 2002 International Vocal Competition
- Robert J Farr & Ralph Moore, Reviews of Chandos CHAN 3180(2), Music Web International, 14 April 2014