Marianne Cornetti, mezzo-soprano
Marianne Cornetti is an internationally renowned Verdi mezzo-soprano who has appeared as Amneris in Aida, Azucena in Il Trovatore, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, and Princess Eboli in Don Carlos at prestigious opera houses across the world, garnering rave reviews and winning the hearts of audiences globally.
Opera magazine claims, “If her timbre did not sear itself into the memory, her vocal command of this redoubtable role was complete” and Seen and Heard International raves, “[Her] voice is a miracle of power and flexibility from top to bottom. It is the emotion which she imparts into her singing, however, that makes her Azucena so memorable…Cornetti imbues each [role] with an emotional force all its own… The cheers and applause that rained down upon her at the end were well deserved.”
Cornetti has performed to great acclaim the iconic leading Verdi roles of Azucena in Il Trovatore at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Metropolitan Opera, Arena di Verona, Bregenz Festival, Teatro Comunale in Florence, National Theatre of China in Beijing, Teatro Municipal in Sao Paulo, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, La Coruña in Spain, Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv, Teatro Regio in Parma, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and in the Teatro Comunale di Bologna’s tour in Japan; and Amneris in Aida at the Teatro alla Scala, Hamburg State Opera, Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, New National Theatre Foundation in Tokyo, Theatre Royale de La Monnaie in Brussels, Israeli Opera at Masada, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Auditorio de Tenerife, Opera Naples, the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Belgium and Choregies D’Orange. Cornetti’s appearance as Amneris for Pittsburgh Opera in 2020 was rescheduled for their 2023 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cornetti’s 2021-22 season opens with a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Orchestra Miami. In early spring, she will be seen in the role of Leokadja Begbick in Kurt Weill’s The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at the Teatro Regio Parma Italy and subsequently at the Teatro Emilia-Romagna. She then returns to her native Pittsburgh to sing in Pittsburgh Festival Opera’s “The Legends in the Limelight” concert series and to perform the role of Ježibaba in Rusalka with Pittsburgh Opera, where she was last seen as The Witch in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.
Highlights of Cornetti’s recent engagements include her debut as Princess Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlos in Tokyo as well as performances in Parma, Bilbao, Rome, Vienna, and London; Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and at the Bolshoi Theatre; performances of Gianni Schicchi and L’enfant e les Sortiléges with the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy Opera Project in Kyoto, Tokyo, and Nagoya, Japan; her debut as Dame Quickly in Falstaff at the Palacio de la Ópera in La Coruña, Spain, followed by a reprisal of the role at the San Diego Opera; Fidès in Le prophete at the Aalto-Musiktheater Essen; Ježibaba in Rusalka and The Witch in Hansel and Gretel at the Minnesota Opera; Lady Macbeth in Macbeth and Laura in La Gioconda with the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Preziosilla in La Forza del Destino at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, La Monnaie in Brussels, and at Carnegie Hall in New York City; as the title role in La Gioconda at the Rome Opera and Romanian National Opera; and Abigaille in Nabucco at the New National Theatre Foundation in Tokyo, La Monnaie in Brussels, and at the Metropolitan Opera.
In 2005, Cornetti sang her first Wagnerian role, appearing as Ortrud in Lohengrin at the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste. She continued her excursion into this repertoire with her debut as Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and has since sung the role of Ortrud in Amsterdam, Paris, Sao Paolo, and Palermo, and has appeared as Brangäne in Genoa. Cornetti’s verismo repertoire includes Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana, which she performed at Teatro alla Scala; Princess de Bouillon in Adriana Lecouvreur at the Teatro Massimo of Palermo, Teatro di San Carlo, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro Regio in Turin, Opera di Firenze, and Dutch National Opera; and Rosa in Cilea’s L’Arlesiana, which she sang to great acclaim at the L’Opera de Montpellier and at Carnegie Hall with the Opera Orchestra of New York.
She appears frequently in concert in such works as Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Elgar’s Sea Picture and De Falla’s El Amor Brujo. She has recorded Cilea’s L’Arlesiana and Puccini’s Edgar opposite Plácido Domingo and was recently featured on a Teatro Regio di Parma recording of Verdi’s Don Carlo released in 2017 on the Dynamic record label.
Cheryl Lin Fielding, Pianist
Cheryl Lin Fielding has performed throughout the United States, Italy, France, and Japan, including major venues such as Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Recital Hall, Seiji Ozawa Hall, Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Juilliard Theater, the Mark Morris Dance Group, Musco Center for the Arts, and Soka Performing Arts Center.
Dr. Fielding has been awarded the Grace B. Jackson Prize in Excellence by the Tanglewood Music Festival, recognized by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and three times received the distinguished Gwendolyn Koldofsky Award in Keyboard Collaborative Arts. She holds dual master’s degrees from the Juilliard School and the Doctor of Musical Arts in Keyboard Collaborative Arts at the University of Southern California, with extended emphasis in Vocal performance.
John Osborn, tenor
John Osborn is a Winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Awards (1994), and a graduate of the distinguished company’s Young Artist Development Program (1997).
His early career consisted of many Rossini opera performances including Il barbiere di Siviglia (San Francisco, Metropolitan NYC, San Diego, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Berlin Staatsoper, LA Opera, Semperoper Dresden, Royal Opera House, Des Moines Metro Opera, Teatro Colon, Wiener Staatsoper); La Cenerentola (Paris Salle Garnier, Opera de Montreal, Regio di Torino, Santiago Chile, Saint Gallen, Opernhaus Zurich); Il Turco in Italia; La donna del Lago (Teatro Alla Scala, Metropolitan Opera); L’italiana in Algeri; Guillaume Tell (L’accademia di Santa Cecilia, Dutch National Opera, Theater an der Wien, Grand Theatre de Genève, Proms in London, Metropolitan Opera, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Opera de Lyon, Royal Opera House). Since making his debut in French Grand Opera as Prince Leopold in La Juive at the Bastille in Paris in 2007, he made an historic performance of Arnold Melchtal in Guillaume Tell at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and has performed this role more than anyone in history. Recently, was awarded best Tenor Performance from the Friends of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain for his performances as Hoffmann last season. He is also a winner of the Operalia Placido Domingo, Goffredo Petrassi Awards, Aureliano Pertile Award, Bellini D’Oro, and Oscar della Lirica.
Marjorie Owens, soprano
A former member of the Sächsische Staatsoper in Dresden and a Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, soprano Marjorie Owens is receiving a great deal of acclaim as one of the most exciting dramatic sopranos to have recently come to the public’s attention.
Last season, Ms. Owens made her Canadian Opera Company and role debuts as the title-role in Turandot and a debut with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra as Aida. In the 2018-2019 season, Marjorie Owens returned to the Metropolitan Opera’s roster and made her debut with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Fabio Luisi in her signature-role of Senta in Der fliegende Holländer. She was also heard with the Greek national Opera and Utah Opera as the title-role in Norma and appeared in recital with her alma mater, Baylor University.
In the 2017-2018 season, Ms. Owens made her Hong Kong debut in the title role of Aida with Opera Hong Kong, and returned to Dresden as Senta in Der fliegende Holländer and the Metropolitan Opera’s roster. She was heard in recital with the George London Foundation with baritone Quinn Kelsey.
In the 2016-2017 season, Marjorie returned to Dresden as Dorotka in Schwanda, to the Washington Concert Opera for the title-role in Beethoven’s Leonore, and the Metropolitan Opera’s roster. In concert, she was heard as Senta in Der fliegende Holländer with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and David Robertson.
Ms. Owens’s 2015-2016 season included her role and company debut in the title-role of Norma at the English National Opera, her company debut with Opera Theatre of St. Louis in the title-role of Ariadne auf Naxos, her return to Dresden as Senta in Der fliegende Holländer, a production she premiered in that theater, and a return to the Metropolitan Opera’s roster.