Joyce DiDonato
What can this humble Apprentice Watch writer say about Joyce DiDonato? For starters, “WOW!” As one of the Santa Fe Opera’s Apprentice Program for Singers most illustrious graduates, she enjoys worldwide admiration and acclaim for her vocal range and challenging repertoire. Writing about her performance in The Hours at the Metropolitan Opera, a critic with the New York Times raved about her “generous, noble portrayal” of novelist Virginia Woolf, saying that Ms. DiDonato sounded “as confident and fresh, as sonorous and subtle, as she ever has in this theater.” Two other alumni Apprentice Singers shared the stage in that production. (See adjacent profiles of William Burden and Sylvia D’Eramo.)
A mezzo-soprano, Joyce DiDonato began her association with the Santa Fe Opera in 1995 when she was an Apprentice Singer and performed the role of Peasant Girl in The Marriage of Figaro. She went on to make her debut in the principal role of Cherubino in the 2000 production of the same opera. Since then, she has portrayed Annio in La clemenza di Tito in 2002, Cinderella in the 2006 production of Cendrillon, and Elena in La donna del lago in 2013.
After graduating from Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts, Ms. DiDonato’s early career included the Studio program for young artists at Houston Grand Opera and the Merola Program with the San Francisco Opera.
Ms. DiDonato has travelled the world playing starring roles on stages from La Scala in Milan to Royal Opera Covent Garden in London to the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and Teatro Real in Madrid. She has even played Kauffman Stadium in her hometown, Kansas City, where she sang a rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner at a World Series baseball game. The list of conductors with whom she has worked reads like a Who’s Who of the music world. These include, but are not limited to, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Antonio Pappano, Donald Runnicles, Zubin Mehta, Sir John Elliott Gardner, and Harry Bicket.
Referring to her multi-faceted career, renowned contemporary composer Jake Heggie hailed Ms. DiDonato as “a transformative presence in the arts.” Her classical singing ranges from early repertoire such as Handel’s Agrippina to new works including Dead Man Walking and Little Women. In between she has mastered countless principal roles in numerous works by Mozart, Bellini, Rossini, Donizetti, Massenet, and Strauss, among others. Ms. DiDonato has won multiple Grammy Awards, most recently for Songplay, an album of baroque arias, jazz standards, and selections from the Great American Songbook that combines classical, jazz, Latin, and tango musical motifs. Her commitment to art and humanity stretches beyond the ordinary bounds of classical music. Reflecting on her family’s notion of “vocation,” she states, “From the beginning of my unexpected career I have sought out ways to bring the transformative, healing power of music to as many people as I can—whether on stage, in prisons, refugee camps, or the classroom.” The “Activism” page on her website showcases the remarkable variety of ways in which she has embraced this mission.
Indeed, “WOW” only scratches the surface when we think of Joyce DiDonato. We hope that she returns to Santa Fe soon.