Cynthia Haymon
Encyclopedia
Cynthia Haymon-Coleman is an American soprano
, born September 6, 1958 in Jacksonville, Florida
. She is known for the beauty of her voice and seeming ease with which she uses it. She obtained her Bachelor's degree of Music in Vocal Performance from Northwestern University
. She currently teaches voice as a member of the faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.
, Mimì in La bohème
, Poppea in L'incoronazione di Poppea
, Micaela in Carmen
, Pamina in The Magic Flute
, and Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro
.
She gave the world premiere of the piece "Seven for Luck", a piece for soprano and orchestra based on the texts of Rita Dove
, by composer John Williams
with the Boston Symphony Orchestra
.
Cynthia has sung the role of Bess in the 1986 Glyndebourne production of George Gershwin
's Porgy and Bess
, in the 1989 album made from that production
, and in the 1993 television production of the work.
Cynthia Haymon is married to operatic tenor Barrington Coleman, who also appeared in the above-listed productions of Porgy and Bess.
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
, born September 6, 1958 in Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
. She is known for the beauty of her voice and seeming ease with which she uses it. She obtained her Bachelor's degree of Music in Vocal Performance from Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. She currently teaches voice as a member of the faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.
Performances
Some of Cynthia's operatic roles include Liù in TurandotTurandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
, Mimì in La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
, Poppea in L'incoronazione di Poppea
L'incoronazione di Poppea
L'incoronazione di Poppea is an Italian baroque opera comprising a prologue and three acts, first performed in Venice during the 1642–43 carnival season. The music, attributed to Claudio Monteverdi, is a setting of a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello...
, Micaela in Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
, Pamina in The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
, and Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
.
She gave the world premiere of the piece "Seven for Luck", a piece for soprano and orchestra based on the texts of Rita Dove
Rita Dove
Rita Frances Dove is an American poet and author. From 1993-1995 she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a position now popularly known as "U.S. Poet Laureate"...
, by composer John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
with the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
.
Cynthia has sung the role of Bess in the 1986 Glyndebourne production of George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
's Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
, in the 1989 album made from that production
Porgy and Bess (Glyndebourne album)
Porgy and Bess is a recording of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera version of the George Gershwin opera of the same name. The cast were accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Simon Rattle. The recording took place in February 1988 in No.1 Studio of Abbey Road in London...
, and in the 1993 television production of the work.
Cynthia Haymon is married to operatic tenor Barrington Coleman, who also appeared in the above-listed productions of Porgy and Bess.