Nancy Argenta
Encyclopedia
Nancy Maureen Argenta is a Canadian
soprano
singer, best known for performing music from the pre-classical era. She has won international acclaim, and is considered by many as the leading Handel
soprano of her time.
She was born in Nelson
, British Columbia
, Canada
. She spent her early years in the settlement of Argenta, from which she later took her professional name (to avoid being mistaken for another Canadian soprano, Nancy Hermiston.)
and of Martin Chambers at the University of Western Ontario
, graduating in 1980. The same year she won 1st prize in the Sophie Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté
Competition. After further training with Jacqueline Richard in Düsseldorf from 1980 to 1981, and with Gérard Souzay
, in 1982 she settled in London, England and completed her studies with Vera Rozsa
and Sir Peter Pears
. In 1990, she won Canada's Virginia Parker Prize
.
at the 1983 Aix-en-Provence Festival. In 1990 she received the Virginia P. Moore Prize, an annual award from the Canada Council for development of the career of a young Canadian classical musician.
She is in high demand to perform with period instrument ensembles. These have included the Academy of Ancient Music
and The English Concert
, La Petite Bande
, and such prominent conductors as Trevor Pinnock
, Christopher Hogwood
, John Eliot Gardiner
, Roger Norrington
and Sigiswald Kuijken
. She is particularly noted for her performances of the vocal music of the two leading figures in English music during the Baroque era: George Frideric Handel
and Henry Purcell
. When she returned to the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 1990, it was to sing in the latter's The Fairy Queen. She has performed most of the major Handel operas and oratorios. She also sings all the large-scale Bach
choral/vocal works (B Minor Mass, the Passions, the Christmas Oratorio, and several of the cantatas).
In the classical era she is noted for performances of Haydn masses (some of which she has recorded with Pinnock and Richard Hickox
), Haydn's Creation, the role of Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Despina in Così fan tutte
. However, she sings music of all eras. She has recorded Schubert for the Virgin Classics label, and has sung in performances of music by Mahler and Schoenberg
.
She currently lives in Victoria, British Columbia, after having England as her home for much of her career. Argenta teaches at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and regularly performs in Victoria with the Victoria Baroque Players, in the Early Music Society of the Islands series, in her own oratorio workshop concerts and other venues.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
soprano
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...
singer, best known for performing music from the pre-classical era. She has won international acclaim, and is considered by many as the leading Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL 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....
soprano of her time.
She was born in Nelson
Nelson, British Columbia
Nelson is a city located in the Selkirk Mountains on the extreme West Arm of Kootenay Lake in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Known as "The Queen City", and acknowledged for its impressive collection of restored heritage buildings from its glory days in a regional silver rush,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. She spent her early years in the settlement of Argenta, from which she later took her professional name (to avoid being mistaken for another Canadian soprano, Nancy Hermiston.)
Education
At the age of 11 she started formal voice lessons with Dr. Amy Ferguson of Nelson, and sang with one of the school choirs at L.V. Rogers High School in Nelson. By that time, she was frequently making trips to Vancouver, British Columbia, so she could hear musical events and have additional singing lessons. After graduation from high school in 1975, she was a student of Jacob Hamm in VancouverVancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
and of Martin Chambers at the University of Western Ontario
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario is a public research university located in London, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus covers of land, with the Thames River cutting through the eastern portion of the main campus. Western administers its programs through 12 different faculties and...
, graduating in 1980. The same year she won 1st prize in the Sophie Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté
Sophie Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté
Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté was a Russian-born Canadian composer and virtuoso pianist and violinist.Born in Moscow as Sofia Fridman-Kochevskaya, Eckhardt-Gramatté studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, where her teachers included Alfred Brun and Guillaume Rémy for violin, S. Chenée for...
Competition. After further training with Jacqueline Richard in Düsseldorf from 1980 to 1981, and with Gérard Souzay
Gérard Souzay
Gérard Souzay was a French baritone singer, regarded as one of the very finest interpreters of mélodie in the generation after Charles Panzéra and Pierre Bernac.-Background and education:...
, in 1982 she settled in London, England and completed her studies with Vera Rozsa
Vera Rózsa
Vera Rózsa OBE , , was a Hungarian singer, voice teacher and vocal consultant. She had been living in Great Britain since 1954.-Education:...
and Sir Peter Pears
Peter Pears
Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears CBE was an English tenor who was knighted in 1978. His career was closely associated with the composer Edward Benjamin Britten....
. In 1990, she won Canada's Virginia Parker Prize
Virginia Parker Prize
The Virginia Parker Prize is an annual award given to outstanding young classical musicians who have previously been recipients of Canada Council grants...
.
Reputation
Her soprano voice is light, clear, and flexible, with a sound that is regarded as ideal for classical-era and earlier music.Career
Her professional operatic debut was in two roles in Rameau's Hippolyte et AricieHippolyte et Aricie
Hippolyte et Aricie was the first opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, which opened to great controversy at the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris on October 1, 1733. The libretto, by Abbé Simon-Joseph Pellegrin, is based on Racine's tragedy Phèdre. The opera takes the traditional form of a tragédie en...
at the 1983 Aix-en-Provence Festival. In 1990 she received the Virginia P. Moore Prize, an annual award from the Canada Council for development of the career of a young Canadian classical musician.
She is in high demand to perform with period instrument ensembles. These have included the Academy of Ancient Music
Academy of Ancient Music
The Academy of Ancient Music is a period-instrument orchestra based in Cambridge, England. Founded by harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood in 1973, it was named after a previous organisation of the same name of the 18th century. The musicians play on either original instruments or modern copies of...
and The English Concert
The English Concert
The English Concert is a baroque orchestra playing on period instruments based in London. Founded in 1972 and directed from the harpsichord by Trevor Pinnock for 30 years, it is now directed by harpsichordist Harry Bicket...
, La Petite Bande
La Petite Bande
La Petite Bande is a Belgium-based ensemble specialising in Baroque music played on period instruments. They are particularly known for their recordings of works by Corelli, Rameau, Handel, and Bach.-History:...
, and such prominent conductors as Trevor Pinnock
Trevor Pinnock
Trevor David Pinnock CBE is an English conductor, harpsichordist, and occasional organist and pianist.He is best known for his association with the period-performance orchestra The English Concert which he helped found and directed from the keyboard for over 30 years in baroque and early classical...
, Christopher Hogwood
Christopher Hogwood
Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood CBE, MA , HonMusD , born 10 September 1941, Nottingham, is an English conductor, harpsichordist, writer and musicologist, well known as the founder of the Academy of Ancient Music.-Biography:...
, John Eliot Gardiner
John Eliot Gardiner
Sir John Eliot Gardiner CBE FKC is an English conductor. He founded the Monteverdi Choir , the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique...
, Roger Norrington
Roger Norrington
Sir Roger Arthur Carver Norrington, CBE is a British conductor. He is the son of Sir Arthur Norrington and his brother is Humphrey Thomas Norrington....
and Sigiswald Kuijken
Sigiswald Kuijken
Sigiswald Kuijken is a Belgian violinist, violist, and conductor known for playing on authentic instruments.-Biography:Kuijken was born in Dilbeek, near Brussels. He was a member of the Alarius Ensemble of Brussels between 1964 and 1972 and formed La Petite Bande in 1972...
. She is particularly noted for her performances of the vocal music of the two leading figures in English music during the Baroque era: George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
and Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
. When she returned to the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 1990, it was to sing in the latter's The Fairy Queen. She has performed most of the major Handel operas and oratorios. She also sings all the large-scale 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...
choral/vocal works (B Minor Mass, the Passions, the Christmas Oratorio, and several of the cantatas).
In the classical era she is noted for performances of Haydn masses (some of which she has recorded with Pinnock and Richard Hickox
Richard Hickox
Richard Sidney Hickox CBE was an English conductor of choral, orchestral and operatic music.-Early life:Hickox was born in Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire into a musical family...
), Haydn's Creation, the role of Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Despina in Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....
. However, she sings music of all eras. She has recorded Schubert for the Virgin Classics label, and has sung in performances of music by Mahler and Schoenberg
Schoenberg
Schoenberg is the surname of several persons:* Arnold Schoenberg , Austrian-American composer* Claude-Michel Schoenberg , French record producer, actor, singer, popular songwriter, and musical theatre composer...
.
She currently lives in Victoria, British Columbia, after having England as her home for much of her career. Argenta teaches at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and regularly performs in Victoria with the Victoria Baroque Players, in the Early Music Society of the Islands series, in her own oratorio workshop concerts and other venues.