01/04/2018
Meet the fabulous Lucy Fitz Gibbon, singing Copland's 12 Emily Dickinson settings! Don't miss her in our library tour next week - details at http://www.cincinnatichamberopera.org/
Noted for her “dazzling, virtuoso singing” (Boston Globe), and “musically stunning and dramatically chilling” performances (Twin Cities Daily Planet), Lucy Fitz Gibbon is a dynamic musician whose repertoire spans the baroque to the present. After a performance of Fred Lerdahl’s Wake at the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music, the Berkshire Review for the Arts praised Lucy’s “agile and beautifully focused soprano of exceedingly wide range, uniform timbre, and great flexibility… a remarkable performer who stood out among many other remarkable musicians.”
Lucy believes that creating new works and recreating those lost in centuries past is integral to the continuation of classical music today. As such, Lucy has performed the U.S. premieres of works by Francesco Sacrati (La Finta Pazza, Deidamia), Barbara Strozzi (Presso un ruscello algente), and Agostino Agazzari (Eumelio). With composer and animator Anna Lindemann, Lucy has helped to create three diverse multimedia performances: Bird Brain (chamber work with film); Theory of Flight (stage work with digital animation and electronic music); and a new project based on communication in ant colonies. She has also worked closely with numerous other composers, including John Harbison, Sheila Silver, David Hertzberg, Maria Schneider, and Pauline Oliveros, on projects ranging from song to opera. In helping to realize the complexities of music beyond their written notes, the experience of working with these composers translates to music written in any period. The commitment to faithfully communicate not only the score, but also the underlying intentions of the composer, traverses centuries, languages, and ultimately the stage’s footlights.
In addition to her forays into early and new music, Lucy has given song recitals with her collaborative partner, pianist Ryan McCullough, in venues from California to Canada. Upcoming projects include the Wigmore Hall and Concert Artists Guild competitions, a program of works by Polish composer Roman Palester, a semi-staged recital with the Cincinnati Song Initiative, and a CD of works by John Harbison and James Primosch, to be released by Albany Records. Recent operatic appearances include Britten’s The Turn of the Screw (Miles) with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the workshop premieres of Sheila Silver’s A Thousand Splendid Suns (Laila) and Pauline Oliveros’ The Nubian Word for Flowers (Hermione). Other recent performances include Maria Schneider’s Carlos Drummond de Andrade Stories at the Lucerne Festival, Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with the Ithaca College and UC Davis Orchestras, two appearances with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, and Max von Schillings’ opera Mona Lisa (Dianora) with the American Symphony Orchestra in her Carnegie Hall debut. The coming season also includes premieres of works by Geoffrey Gibbs, a concert at Merkin Hall, Berio’s Folk Songs, and Foss’ Time Cycle. Lucy has spent summers at the Tanglewood Music Center (2014, 2015) and Marlboro Music Festival (2016, 2017).
A graduate of Yale University, Lucy is the recipient of numerous awards for her musical and academic achievements. Lucy also holds an artist diploma from The Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory and a master’s degree from Bard College Conservatory’s Vocal Arts Program. She currently holds the position of Visiting Lecturer at Cornell University.
