Last night, I had the express pleasure and honor of interviewing mezzo Jamie Barton regarding her experiences as a singer and her recital this Sunday. Ms. Barton recently won the 2013 Cardiff Singer of the World competition and makes her role debut of Adalgisa (Norma) at the Metropolitan Opera this month. She will be singing Fricka for the first time in Houston Grand Opera’s Das Rheingold in the Spring.
Read MoreOn Sunday, November 3, Pace presents will welcome the inaugural performance of the Voce at Pace recital series. The series is a rare opportunity for New York audiences to see rising opera stars in an intimate recital setting. It is curated by Matthew A Epstein. We are very excited to have Jamie Barton kick off this intriguing new series. Pace Presents blogger Michael Torbet recently sat down with the young star to discuss her upcoming recital and her career thus far.
Read MoreShe's one of the most prodigiously gifted singers of her generation, but Jamie Barton has yet to tackle the leading operatic roles she was born to perform. Instead, for now she's playing a "waiting game." Barton, who just turned 32, has a gorgeous mezzo-soprano voice, a force-of-nature-sized instrument that is centered in the middle of the female vocal range, just below soprano. In her case, that range has extensions at either end — down to contralto territory and up to high C (a note she laughingly refers to as "my trick pony").
Read MoreAmerican mezzo Jamie Barton, who has steadily been winning fans in the US over the past few years for her rich and nuanced singing, took the international opera world by storm last weekend by winning both the Song Prize as well as the overall prize in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. Watching her final program of arias from Adriana Lecouvreur, Hansel und Gretel, and Berlioz’s Les Troyens, along with a song by Sibelius, it’s hard to imagine how the international jury that included Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Dame Felicity Palmer, Neil Shicoff and Håkan Hagegård could have chosen anyone else.
Read MoreSunday in Cardiff, Wales, young American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton joined an elite cadre of classical artists as the newest winner of the highly prestigious BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. Barton also took home the 2013 Song Prize. While the 31-year-old Barton won £15,000, Cardiff is more notable for its prestige and the exposure it offers.
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