Mary Elizabeth Williams |
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Mary Elizabeth Williams, soprano Award winning soprano, Mary Elizabeth Williams returns to Mercury Opera Rochester after her debut with the company in its inaugural season as Kate Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, and last season’s extraordinary performance as Adalgisa in Bellini’s Norma. Ms. Williams made her U.S. debut last season in Porgy and Bess with the Atlanta Opera. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution exclaimed, “As Serena, Mary Elizabeth Williams had the most gorgeous voice onstage, at once innocent, sultry and deeply affecting.” As a member of the prestigious Centre de Formation Lyrique at the Opera National de Paris, Ms. Williams was invited to sing on a Radio France broadcast during an interview and retrospective on the renowned pianist, Dalton Baldwin. She also performed with Thomas Hampson in concert at the Théâtre du Châtelet, and won the Lyric Artist prize given every year by the Bastille’s Cercle Carpeaux. In the 2007-2008 Season and beyond, she will reprise the role of Leonora in Il Trovatore in her Seattle Opera debut, as well as perform Leonora with the Kentucky Opera. In addition, she will make her role debut as Aida with the Todi Music Festival, as well as reprise the role of Serena in Porgy and Bess with the Fresno Grand Opera, and perform in Augusta Opera’s Holiday Concert. Recent engagements include Leonora (cover) in Il Trovatore at the Opéra Bastille, her debut as the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro in a production that toured France and Belgium, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with both Skylight Opera Theatre and as a member of the prestigious young artist program at Seattle Opera, Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro at the International Institute of Vocal Arts in Israel, and Mariana in Der Rosenkavalier with Florentine Opera. Other roles in her repertoire include Elizabetta in Don Carlo, Leonora in La Forza del Destino, Alice Ford in Falstaff, Leonora in Fidelio, Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, and Bess in Porgy and Bess. She is also emerging into the Wagnerian repertoire. Ms. Williams was a winner of the Concours Clermont-Ferrand and a finalist in the Concours Reine Elisabeth, and a recipient of a Solti Foundation career grant. Subsequently, she sang recitals and concerts in France and Belgium in the 2005-2006 season, as well as Lucy in The Telephone, Susanna in Wolf-Ferrari’s Il Segreto di Susanna, and Anna in Puccini’s Le Villi. Ms. Williams is also an active recitalist, having presented solo programs in Portugal, France, and across the United States. Not limiting herself to opera performance, Ms. Williams is also a former member of the National Touring Company of Kern’s Show Boat. The Philadelphia native has been a Semi-Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and is a graduate of Iowa’s Luther College, where she sang her first operatic role, the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. |