Wallis Giunta

Wallis Giunta (born 1985) is an Irish-Canadian [1][2][3] mezzo-soprano opera singer and actress performing at leading theatres and opera companies around the world.

Wallis Giunta
Born (1985-12-29) 29 December 1985
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
OccupationOpera singer (mezzo-soprano), actress
Years active2010–present
Websitewallisgiunta.com

Early life and education

Giunta was born in Ottawa to Colleen Wrighte and Michael Giunta. She has a brother, Macallan, and a sister, Marley.[4] Giunta sang in the Ottawa Central Children's Choir from age 9 to 15,[5] and began voice training with Charlotte Stewart in Ottawa at age 13. She attended Lisgar Collegiate Institute, and graduated high school from Glebe Collegiate Institute. At 17, she began her post-secondary studies in voice at The University of Ottawa, completing freshman and sophomore years. She then transferred to The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto in her junior year, receiving her Performance Diploma (Voice) at age 21 and her Artist Diploma (Voice) at age 23.[6] While a student, she achieved first place in the Royal Conservatory Orchestra Concerto Competition.[7] She attended training programs at the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Ravinia Festival, the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie,[8] the Georg Solti Accademia and the Banff Centre. She graduated from the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio in 2011,[9] and both the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and The Juilliard School Artist Diploma in Opera Studies in 2013.[10][11] She has studied extensively with both Jean MacPhail in Toronto, and Edith Wiens in New York.[12]

Career

In spring 2010, before completing her studies, Giunta made her professional debut, as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Atelier and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in Toronto. She spent summer 2010 at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, where she was invited to audition for the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, which she joined in September 2011. Earlier in 2011, she had made her American operatic debut as Pribaoutki in the acclaimed Robert Lepage production of Stravinsky's The Nightingale & Other Short Fables, on tour with the Canadian Opera Company. That season, she also performed Zweite Dame in the Canadian Opera Company main stage production of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, directed by Diane Paulus, and made her debut at Opera Lyra Ottawa as Lola in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana.[13] In 2012, she performed in two Metropolitan Opera Young Artist productions, as Phénice in Gluck's Armide, and as Dorabella in Stephen Wadsworth's staging of Così fan tutte. She also debuted at the Fort Worth Opera as Cherubino.[13]

In 2013 she returned to the Canadian Opera Company singing both Sesto and Annio in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito, directed by Christopher Alden. This was followed by her Metropolitan Opera main stage debut as Contessa Ceprano in Verdi's Rigoletto, and her debut at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, singing the role of Tiffany in I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky, by John Adams. She also made her Asian debut later that year, with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, reprising the role of Annio.[13]

In 2014, she returned to the Canadian Opera Company, reprising the role of Dorabella, in a new production by director Atom Egoyan. She also created the Canadian premiere of Louis Andriessen's one-woman opera, Anaïs Nin, for the 21C Festival in Toronto, and returned to Opera Atelier as Bradamante in Handel's Alcina.

In early 2015, Giunta returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Olga in a new production of Lehár's The Merry Widow, broadcast worldwide for their Live in HD series. That was followed by a return to Opera Lyra Ottawa as Cherubino, and a debut at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, reprising her role in I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky. In the fall of 2015, she became a member of the ensemble at Oper Leipzig in Germany. In November 2015, she made her German operatic debut at Oper Leipzig in the role of Cherubino, in a new production of Le nozze di Figaro. That was followed at Oper Leipzig by her role debut as Siébel in Gounod's Faust, and her first Wagnerian role as Rossweise in Die Walküre.

In March 2016 she made another role debut at Oper Leipzig as Angelina in La Cenerentola. She debuted in April 2016 at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, followed by a debut with the Hamburger Symphoniker in May 2016, and her role debut as Mercédès in Carmen for Oper Frankfurt's new Barry Kosky staging in July 2016. In the fall of 2016, she debuted a new role at Opera Atelier, Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, and debuted in concert with the Munich Radio Orchestra and Symphony Nova Scotia.[13]

In 2017, she starred in three productions for Opera North, singing the title roles in La Cenerentola and L'enfant et les sortilèges, as well as Dinah in Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti, again to critical acclaim.[14] She was recognized for her work in 2017 with awards from the International Opera Awards, WhatsOnStage Opera Awards and The Arts Desk.

Giunta made her London debut at Cadogan Hall in the BBC Proms on 27 August 2018.[15] She also made her first appearance on BBC Television as a guest on BBC Proms "Extra", live at Royal Albert Hall in August, 2018. She gave her first TEDx Talk, on embracing artistic versatility, in May 2018. She also received critical acclaim for her role as Dinah in the film version of Trouble in Tahiti, released in July 2018 by Opera North and The Guardian. She went on to debut the role of Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, and the title roles in Bizet's Carmen and Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, all for Oper Leipzig.

In 2019 Giunta debuted as Dodo in Breaking the Waves by Missy Mazzoli at the Edinburgh International Festival,[16] debuted the role of Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo for Opera Atelier, debuted at The Grange Festival as Cherubino, at the Sydney Opera House in a solo concert, and at the Royal Swedish Opera and Seattle Opera as the title role in Rossini's La Cenerentola. In 2020, before COVID-19 pandemic-related cancellations, Giunta also debuted at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein as Bradamante in Handel's Alcina, and reprised the role of Dodo in Breaking the Waves for the Adelaide festival.

Operatic roles

Giunta's repertoire includes:[17]

@ World première
@@ North America première
@@@ European première

Recognition and awards
YearAssociationCategoryWorkResultRef.
2018 International Opera Awards Young Singer of the Year Won
2017 Whatsonstage.com Opera Awards Breakthrough Artist in UK Opera Won
Dora Mavor Moore Awards Outstanding Performance – Ensemble (Opera) Dido & Aeneas Nominated
2016 Canada Council for the Arts Bernard Diamant Prize Won

Films and recordings

References
  1. Rodriguez, Adrian (5 November 2019). "Wallis Giunta: Singing Outside the Box". La Scena Musicale. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  2. Jameson, Julietta (3 December 2019). "Wallis Giunta: What travel has taught me". Traveller. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  3. Seymour, Claire (27 August 2018). "A brilliant celebration of Bernstein & co. from Wallis Giunta at Cadogan Hall". Opera Today. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  4. Hill, Valerie (9 December 2011). "Mezzo Soprano sure to dazzle at Saturday's Messiah performance". Waterloo Region Record. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  5. Eades, Erica (12 February 2013). "STAR POWER: A Q&A with Mezzo Soprano Wallis Giunta". Ottawa Magazine. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  6. "Glenn Gould School Alumni". The Royal Conservatory.
  7. "All Participants". Neue Stimmen. 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  8. "Alumni: 2012". Internationale Meistersinger Akademie. 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  9. MacMillan, Rick (2011). "Wallis Giunta". Opera Canada. 52 (1): 10. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  10. "Alumni News". Juilliard School. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  11. Mazzaro, Maria (September 2015). "Sound Bites: Wallis Giunta". Opera News. 80 (3): 14–15. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  12. "Serendipity: Wallis Giunta", interview by Emer Nestor, Final Note Magazine, August 2015
  13. "Biography". Wallis Giunta Official Site. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  14. Hickling, Alfred (19 February 2017). "Cinderella review – effervescent Rossini for a Strictly Dancing era" – via www.theguardian.com.
  15. https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/efxj6q
  16. https://www.eif.co.uk/whats-on/2019/breakingwaves
  17. Giunta, Wallis. "Repertoire". Wallis Giunta Official Website. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  18. Nice, David. "Best of 2017: Opera". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  19. Rowat, Robert. "30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30 2015". CBC Music. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  20. Tenenhouse, Kate. "Top 25 People in the Capiltal 2015". Ottawa Life Magazine. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  21. "Gala Program" (PDF). GGPAA. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  22. Rowat, Robert. "30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30 2014". CBC Music. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  23. Rowat, Robert. "30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30 2013". CBC Music. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  24. "Award Recipients". Sylva Gelber Music Foundation. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  25. "New Discoveries Competition". Ottawa Choral Society. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  26. ""Trouble in Tahiti: watch Bernstein's swinging one-act opera"". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  27. Perry, William. "Music for Great Films of the Silent Era". Naxos. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  28. Becke, Carson. "CDs". Carson Becke, Pianist. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  29. Opera Atelier: Don Giovanni on YouTube Retrieved 29 January 2017.
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