Linda Maguire
Encyclopedia
Linda Maguire is an American
opera
and classical
singer, recording artist and researcher in music and sensory therapies. She is best known for her performance as Ermione
in the 1995, BBC
filmed Glyndebourne Festival production of Rossini's opera
Ermione
.
and as a teenager, worked as a madrigal singer and costumed character in Williamsburg, Virginia
before going on to study opera at the Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Toronto
. After finishing her studies, she went on to a 23-year international career singing over thirty soprano and mezzo-soprano leading roles. In 1996, she toured extensively throughout the Netherlands, singing the lead contralto role in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice
.
She has recorded on the Collins Classics and Deutsche Grammophon Archiv
labels, and has sung and recorded over eighty live vocal broadcasts of major works on radio stations CBC, BBC, NPR and others.
In 2004, she relocated from Toronto to Washington DC where she has sung in numerous performances at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
, including Rossini's Stabat Mater
, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9
, Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand
, Bach's Cantata
BWV 79, Amy Beach
's Canticle of the Sun, and most recently, Mendlessohn's Elijah
and Handel's Messiah
during the 2008-2009 season.
Maguire has also worked in the field of music therapy
, researching the "Mozart effect
" in children and the "Bach
Effect" in adults and patients with Alzheimer's disease
.
One of her brothers is Michael Maguire, an American actor, best known for his role as Enjolras
in the original Broadway
production of the musical
Les Misérables
.
(1993), Cardiff Singer of the World contestant representing Canada (1987)
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
singer, recording artist and researcher in music and sensory therapies. She is best known for her performance as Ermione
Hermione (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Hermione was the only daughter of Menelaus and Helen; however, some sources state that her mother also had a daughter, Iphigenia, by Theseus, as well as three younger sons, one by Menelaus, the others by Paris, prince of Troy.Hermione was nine when her mother left with Paris...
in the 1995, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
filmed Glyndebourne Festival production of Rossini's opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Ermione
Ermione
Ermione is a tragic opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, based on the play Andromaque by Jean Racine.- Performance history :...
.
Biography
Maguire was born in Newport News, VirginiaNewport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
and as a teenager, worked as a madrigal singer and costumed character in Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...
before going on to study opera at the Oberlin Conservatory and the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
. After finishing her studies, she went on to a 23-year international career singing over thirty soprano and mezzo-soprano leading roles. In 1996, she toured extensively throughout the Netherlands, singing the lead contralto role in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice
Orfeo ed Euridice
Orfeo ed Euridice is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck based on the myth of Orpheus, set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the azione teatrale, meaning an opera on a mythological subject with choruses and dancing...
.
She has recorded on the Collins Classics and Deutsche Grammophon Archiv
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...
labels, and has sung and recorded over eighty live vocal broadcasts of major works on radio stations CBC, BBC, NPR and others.
In 2004, she relocated from Toronto to Washington DC where she has sung in numerous performances at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
, including Rossini's Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater (Rossini)
Rossini composed his Stabat Mater late in his career after retiring from the composition of opera. He began the work in 1831 but did not complete it until 1841.-Composition:...
, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
, Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand
Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)
The Symphony No. 8 in E-flat major by Gustav Mahler is one of the largest-scale choral works in the classical concert repertoire. Because it requires huge instrumental and vocal forces it is frequently called the "Symphony of a Thousand", although the work is often performed with fewer than a...
, Bach's Cantata
Bach cantata
Bach cantata became a term for a cantata of the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach who was a prolific writer of the genre. Although many of his works are lost, around 200 cantatas survived....
BWV 79, Amy Beach
Amy Beach
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach was an American composer and pianist. She was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music. Most of her compositions and performances were under the name Mrs. H.H.A. Beach.-Early years:Beach was born Amy Marcy Cheney in Henniker, New Hampshire into...
's Canticle of the Sun, and most recently, Mendlessohn's Elijah
Elijah (oratorio)
Elijah, in German: Elias, is an oratorio written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1846 for the Birmingham Festival. It depicts various events in the life of the Biblical prophet Elijah, taken from the books 1 Kings and 2 Kings in the Old Testament....
and Handel's Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
during the 2008-2009 season.
Maguire has also worked in the field of music therapy
Music therapy
Music therapy is an allied health profession and one of the expressive therapies, consisting of an interpersonal process in which a trained music therapist uses music and all of its facets—physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and spiritual—to help clients to improve or maintain their...
, researching the "Mozart effect
Mozart effect
The Mozart effect can refer to: * A set of research results that indicate that listening to Mozart's music may induce a short-term improvement on the performance of certain kinds of mental tasks known as "spatial-temporal...
" in children and the "Bach
Bạch
Bạch is a Vietnamese surname. The name is transliterated as Bai in Chinese and Baek, in Korean.Bach is the anglicized variation of the surname Bạch.-Notable people with the surname Bạch:* Bạch Liêu...
Effect" in adults and patients with Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
.
One of her brothers is Michael Maguire, an American actor, best known for his role as Enjolras
Enjolras
Enjolras is the charismatic leader of the Friends of the ABC in the 1862 novel Les Misérables by Victor Hugo.- The Friends of the ABC :...
in the original Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production of the musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
.
Awards
Arian Award, Metropolitan Opera Finalist, Juno AwardJuno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
(1993), Cardiff Singer of the World contestant representing Canada (1987)
Recordings
- Linda Maguire Sings Berlioz, Coulthard, Wagner, Respighi – CBCCanadian Broadcasting CorporationThe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
Vancouver Orchestra. Label: CBC Records - Peter Maxwell DaviesPeter Maxwell DaviesSir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.-Biography:...
: Job – CBC Vancouver Orchestra. Label: Collins Classics - HandelHANDELHANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
: La resurrezioneLa ResurrezioneLa resurrezione is a sacred oratorio by George Frideric Handel, set to a libretto by Carlo Sigismondo Capece . Capece was court poet to Queen Maria Casimira of Poland, who was living in exile in Rome. It was first performed on the Easter Sunday of 1708 at Rome, with the backing of the Marchese...
– Les Musiciens du LouvreLes Musiciens du LouvreLes Musiciens du Louvre is a French period instrument ensemble, formed in 1982. Originally based in Paris, since 1996 it has been based in the Couvent des Minimes in Grenoble. The Guardian considers it one of the best orchestras in the world.- History:Founded by Marc Minkowski in 1982, the...
. Label: Deutsche Grammophon Archiv - Handel: Excerpts From FloridanteFloridanteFloridante is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was by Paolo Antonio Rolli after Francesco Silvani's libretto for Marc'Antonio Ziani dramma per musica La costanza in trionfo of 1696....
– Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. Label: CBC Records