March Concert Guest Artist: Leah Wool, Mezzo-Soprano
Hailed by Opera News for her “lovely plush lyric mezzo,” and “dramatic sensitivity,” Leah Wool is rapidly garnering critical acclaim for her performances across the country. In 2006-2007, Ms. Wool makes her debut with the Metropolitan Opera as a Novice in Suor Angelica, her Carnegie Hall debut as the alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Masterwork Chorus and Orchestra, sings Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the Newton Symphony Orchestra, and returns to Central City Opera to sing the title role in Massenet’s Cendrillon.
Notable performances in 2005-2006 included Hansel in Hansel and Gretel at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, her New York City Opera debut as Delia in Il Viaggio a Reims, and Nancy in Albert Herring with Gotham Chamber Opera. In the summer of 2005, Ms. Wool made a highly lauded debut at Central City Opera as Erika in Vanessa. She is a frequent presence at Utah Opera, where she has been heard as Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Karolka in Jenůfa, The Sandman in Hansel and Gretel, Kate in The Pirates of Penzance, and Wowkle in La Fanciulla del West.
Sought after on the concert stage, she has appeared as mezzo-soprano soloist for works including Haydn's Theresienmesse with the New Jersey Symphony, Handel's Messiah with the Utah Symphony, Duruflé's Requiem with the Greenwich Choral Society, Vivaldi's Gloria with the New Haven Symphony, Bruckner's Missa Solemnis with the Manchester Symphony, and Bach's Magnificat, Stravinsky's Les Noces, and Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass at Yale University.
Ms. Wool was a Second Place Winner in the 2005 Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Vocal Competition and subsequently made her Alice Tully Hall debut in the Foundation’s gala concert, receiving praise from Opera News as “the afternoon’s most arresting voice.” A two-time Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, she has also received an Encouragement Grant from the Sullivan Foundation Awards, the Judith Raskin Memorial Award from Santa Fe Opera, and was the First-Place Winner of the Amici Vocal Competition in 2003. She was also the 2002 recipient of the Presser Award, a prestigious study grant from The Presser Foundation and the Yale School of Music.
Ms. Wool has been a Young Artist at Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Utah Symphony & Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Opera North, and the Caramoor Festival. She holds an Artist Diploma and Master of Music from Yale University and received her Bachelor of Music magna cum laude from Westminster Choir College. Ms. Wool is a native of Long Island, New York.
