A Step Beyond A Directory Listing

RECOGNITION AROUND TOWN MUSIC FIGURES

Spotlight celebrates and recognizes individuals who have made it their mission to contribute to society in arts education and other important fields.

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Pamela Kucenic - The Artist

Regarded as one of the most exciting dramatic sopranos of the day, as recently as 2005, Pamela Kucenic was engaged by the Tokyo Opera Nomori for a concert and selections from Elektra conducted by Seiji Ozawa in Tokyo, Japan. Considered Maestro Ozawa's 'new find' she was asked back to cover Christine Brewer for the Gurrelieder by Schoenberg for the Saito Kinen Festival in Matsumoto, Japan. She most recently returned with rave notices for her performances as Turandot with the Fresno Grand Opera. Ms. Kucenic was under contract by the Metropolitan Opera in the 02-03 season for the roles of Elektra in Richard Strauss' opera which was conducted by James Levine and that of Kundry in Wagner's Parsifal which featured Placido Domingo in the tiltle role and conducted by Valery Gergiev. She has captivated audiences throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and South America. She appeared in a new production of Richard Strauss' Elektra for 8 performances in 19 days with standing ovations for the Virginia Opera to rave notices for both her dramatic and singing ability. The soprano returned to the Palm Beach Opera company in the 2002 season, for both roles of Venus and Elizabeth in Wagner's Tannhauser after having had great success there in Turandot. She was again lauded for her performances with standing ovations. The soprano was asked to return to Palm Beach Opera for Madame Lidoine in The Dialogues of the Carmelites conducted by Julius Rudel for the 2003-2004 season,. her perfomance being hailed as 'spellbinding' by the Palm Beach Post.

After a concert performance of Verdi's Nabucco, the Carnegie Hall public gave her a standing ovation and Opera Monthly Magazine wrote, "Pamela Kucenic challenged the gods ... singing fearlessly over an unusually wide tessitura that exploits all of any soprano's vocal resources, she emerged triumphant." And following a performance of Aida, The Honolulu Advertiser said, "Pamela Kucenic in the title role of the Ethiopian slave is magnificent."
She returned to Malta for Amelia in Ballo in Maschera and the Verdi Requiem in the fall of 2002. after having had previously great successes with the title role of Aida and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth , becoming a favorite with the Maltese audiences.

With leading roles in her repertoire such as Turandot, Lady Macbeth, Tosca, Aida, Santuzza, Leonora, La Gioconda, Abigaille, Donna Eivira, Senta, Salome and Elektra, Pamela Kucenic's performances are eagerly awaited. In the United States, besides recently being engaged by the Metropolitan Opera, she has been engaged by the New York City Opera, the Opera Company of Boston, the Baltimore Opera, the Atlanta Opera, the New Jersey State Opera, the Buffalo Opera, Fresno Opera and the companies of Palm Beach, Toledo, Arizona, Utah, Mississippi, Hawaii and Virginia.

As Abigaille in Nabucco, Ms. Kucenic made her debut in both Oviedo, Spain for the Asociacon Asturiana de Amigos de la Opera as well as at Belgium's Royal Opera de Wallonie. In Madrid, she has sung with the Orquesta Sinfonica conducted by Sergiu Comissiona in a live broadcast of Richard Strauss' Four Last Songs and Wagner's Immolation Scene from Gotterdammerung. As an audience favorite, Pamela Kucenic has been heard at Taiwan's National Theater in Taipei singing Leonora in Il Trovatore, and the title roles of both Aida and Tosca. In concert, she has been a guest soloist with the Taipei City Symphony Orchestra for Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Mahler's Symphony No. 2. Pamela Kucenic has been honored by President Lee Teng-hui for her many contributions to Taipei's cultural scene.

In the Wagnerian repertoire, Ms. Kucenic has sung the role of Sieglinde in Die Walkure at the Teatro Municipale in Rio de Janeiro. In Caracas, Venezuela her appearances include a performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 8 for the inauguration of President Peres. For her debut at Santiago, Chile's Teatro Municipal she sang the role of Elena in Boito's Mefistofele; in Cairo, Egypt, at the National Theater, she sang Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera .This soprano has also toured extensively throughout the Middle East and Asia in performances with the Ambassadors of Opera and Artists International.

The orchestral repertoire is also an important part of Ms. Kucenic's performing schedule including such works as the Verdi Requiem, the Brahms Requiem, Symphony No. 9, Berlioz's La Mort de Cleopatre, Strauss' Four Last Songs, Wagner's Wesendonck Songs and the Immolation Scene from G6tterdammerung. She has been a soloist with the Hartford Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, the San Diego Symphony, the Westmoreland Symphony, the Corpus Christi Symphony, the Savannah Symphony, the Kalamazoo Symphony and Opera Orchestra of New York.