GMHC Presents:
Jossie Pérez, Mezzo-Soprano
Already championed by leaders in her field including Placido
Domingo and James Levine, mezzo-soprano Jossie Pérez has been making
waves with her vocal warmth and dramatic fire since she first stepped
on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera to win the National Council
auditions in 1999. But it is not only her vocal excellence that moves
her audiences, but her complete commitment to every role she undertakes.
Recently her talent prompted Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe to write
"The mezzo's got looks, charisma, confidence, humor and a voice to die
for resinously sexy at the bottom and blooming into a full soprano at
the top. She sang with subtlety, craftsmanship, and fire…Jossie Pérez
is Carmen."
Born in Puerto Rico, Jossie Pérez recently completed her third and
final year of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development
Program. She joined the program at the beginning of the 1999–2000 season
after her success at the National Council Auditions.
Highlights of the 2004–2005 season include the role of Maffio Orsini
in Lucrezia Borgia with the Fundación Festival de Opera de Oviedo in Spain,
Donna Elvira with Lyric Opera of San Antonio, and Cherubino in Le Nozze di
Figaro, Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Lola in Cavalleria Rusyicana and
Siébel in Faust, all with the Metropolitan Opera. She will also appear
in duo recital with Carol Vaness at the Casals Festival, and in the summer
will travel to Santiago, Chile to perform Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte.
Upcoming seasons include Isabella in L'Italiana in Algeri with Opera
Pacific, and Annio in Clemenza di Tito with Washington National Opera.
Ms. Pérez opened the 2003–2004 season with the Metropolitan Opera
performing Flora in La Traviata and Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro.
She then appeared as Rosina in Tulsa Opera's production of Il Barbiere
di Siviglia and returned to the Boston Lyric Opera in the spring to
sing Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte. Ms. Pérez also appeared twice in
concert at Carnegie Hall, first with Emanuel Ax and the Juilliard
Orchestra and then with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra. She returned
to the Spoleto.
Festival USA for two concerts and then participated in Opera
Pacific's Under the Stars concert in June. During the summer, she
performed Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with the Bellingham Festival
of Music and the title role of Carmen at the Lyrique-en-mer Festival
de Belle Ile in France.
During the 2002–2003 season, Ms. Pérez performed for the first
time the title role in Carmen with the Boston Lyric Opera. The
season also included Idamante in Idomeneo with Placido Domingo and
the Washington Opera, and Mércèdes in Carmen, Ascanio in Les Troyens,
Siébel in Faust, and Dryade in Ariadne Auf Naxos, all with the Metropolitan
Opera. Ms. Pérez also performed in a new opera, MARINA with the American
Opera Projects and the title role in Carmen at the Bellingham Festival
of Music last summer.
Ms. Pérez made her Metropolitan Opera debut during the 2000–2001
season as Mércèdes in Carmen. She also sang Rosette in Manon, as well
as one of the Flower Maidens and the Second Esquire in Parsifal. In the
2001–2002 season, Ms. Pérez appeared in productions at the Metropolitan
of Hansel and Gretel and L'Enfant et les Sortileges. She also appeared
in a Bellini Marathon concert at the Liceo in Barcelona, Spain. In
August she performed a Flower Maiden in Parsifal at the Salzburg Festival.
Earlier successes include appearances at Wolf Trap as Isabella in
Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri, and in a mixed operatic program with
the National Symphony in the summer of 2000. In January of 2000, Ms.
Pérez performed Ravel's Chansons Madecasses with James Levine and the
Met Chamber Ensemble at Weill Recital Hall. Ms. Pérez also performed
as a soloist in Handel's Messiah with the Peniel Concert Choir at Lincoln
Center and in Mozart's Requiem with the Puerto Rico Symphony.
In 2001, Ms. Pérez was a winner in the Operalia competition and
was awarded a Sara Tucker Study Grant from The Richard Tucker Music
Foundation. Between the years of 1994–98, the Louis and Edward Foundation
honored Ms. Pérez as Outstanding Vocalist of the Year, and in October
of 1999 she was awarded an Encouragement Award by the Opera Index
Competition. Ms. Pérez received her degree in Vocal Performance from
the New England Conservatory in 1998. After a recent appearance in
Bellingham she received praise from the President of the festival:
"Awesome, in every way, is the word that comes to mind about Jossie's
venture to Bellingham... What a talent and what a splendid, wonderful,
fun and unassuming person. She is adored here and we are so fortunate
to have her return this summer... It's the talk of the town. Take good
care of her as she is a treasure."
© 2005 Gay Men's Health Crisis |
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