Stella Zambalis
Encyclopedia
Stella Zambalis is an American spinto soprano
born in Cleveland, Ohio
. She has been called one of the best sopranos in the world today.
at Florida State University
. Zambalis moved to Houston along with Nikolaidi where she became a member of the Houston Grand Opera
young artist program. She was the 1983 winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions
. She began her career as a mezzo-soprano and switched to soprano in the mid 1990s.
recording of West Side Story, 1992 Metropolitan Opera recording of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro (Levine), Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet: Overture Fantasy for Bridge Records and on Dvorak's three complete solo song cycles for the Opus record label
.
's and Philip Glass
' The Juniper Tree
and reprised the role in its New York City debut April 2007 at Lincoln Center. In January 2007 she debuted as Bellini
's Norma (opera)
for Mercury Opera In Rochester NY. She frequently performs the role of Nedda in I Pagliacci as well as all of the Puccini heroines.
Spinto soprano
A spinto soprano is a category of operatic soprano voice that has the limpidity and easy high notes of a lyric soprano, yet can be "pushed" on to achieve dramatic climaxes without strain. This type of voice may possess a somewhat darker timbre, too, than the average lyric soprano...
born in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. She has been called one of the best sopranos in the world today.
Education and early career
Zambalis began her studies with Greek mezzo-soprano Elena NikolaidiElena Nikolaidi
Elena Nikolaidi was a noted Greek-American opera singer and teacher. Nikolaidi sang leading mezzo-soprano roles with major opera companies worldwide and made numerous recordings....
at Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
. Zambalis moved to Houston along with Nikolaidi where she became a member of the Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell...
young artist program. She was the 1983 winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions
Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions
The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions is an annual singing competition sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera. Established in 1954, its purpose is to discover, assist, promote, and develop young opera singers. The competition is held in four stages: Districts, Regional, Semi-Final, and...
. She began her career as a mezzo-soprano and switched to soprano in the mid 1990s.
Recordings
She can be heard on the 1984 Leonard BernsteinLeonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
recording of West Side Story, 1992 Metropolitan Opera recording of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro (Levine), Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet: Overture Fantasy for Bridge Records and on Dvorak's three complete solo song cycles for the Opus record label
Opus (record label)
OPUS is a former Czechoslovakia major state-owned record label and music publishing house based in Bratislava, now a label, Opus a.s., of Slovakia....
.
On video
- Seattle Opera's War and Peace
- 1992 Metropolitan Opera's Marriage of Figaro, Mozart, James LevineJames LevineJames Lawrence Levine is an American conductor and pianist. He is currently the music director of the Metropolitan Opera and former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Levine's first performance conducting the Metropolitan Opera was on June 5, 1971, and as of May 2011 he has...
Conducting - PBS's The Making of West Side Story
Roles
She created the role of the stepmother in Robert MoranRobert Moran
Robert Moran is an American composer of operas and ballets as well as numerous orchestral, vocal, chamber and dance works.-Life:...
's and Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
' The Juniper Tree
The Juniper Tree
The Juniper Tree is a 1990 Icelandic film with a small cast of five actors, Björk, Bryndis Petra Bragadóttir, Guðrún S. Gísladóttir, Valdimar Örn Flygenring and introducing Geirlaug Sunna Þormar...
and reprised the role in its New York City debut April 2007 at Lincoln Center. In January 2007 she debuted as Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
's Norma (opera)
Norma (opera)
Norma is a tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after Norma, ossia L'infanticidio by Alexandre Soumet. First produced at La Scala on December 26, 1831, it is generally regarded as an example of the supreme height of the bel canto tradition...
for Mercury Opera In Rochester NY. She frequently performs the role of Nedda in I Pagliacci as well as all of the Puccini heroines.
- Mimi in La Bohème, Deutsche Oper Berlin/New York City Opera/Opera Company of Philadelphia/Baltimore Opera/Opera Columbus/Kentucky Opera/Arizona Opera/Michigan Opera/Opera Pacific/Tulsa Opera/Arkansas Symphony
- Floria Tosca in Tosca, Columbus (debut)/Tacoma Opera/Fargo Morehead/Chattanooga Symph & Opera/Arkansas Symphony/others
- Cherubino (Created) in John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles, Metropolitan Opera
- Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, New York City Opera/Deutsche Oper Berlin/Indianapolis/Opera Theater of Saint Louis/others (at least 23 total productions)
- Magda in La Rondine, New York City Opera
- The Three Heroines in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Opera Columbus/New York City Opera/Chautauqua Opera/Knoxville Opera
- Giulietta in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Tulsa Opera
- Micaela in Carmen, New York City Opera/Michigan Opera/Minnesota Opera/Tulsa Opera
- Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Houston Grand Opera/Opera Omaha/Indianapolis Opera
- Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte, Houston Grand Opera/Seattle Opera
- Musetta in La Bohème, Houston Grand Opera
- Nedda in I Pagliacci, Houston Grand Opera/Opera Co. of Philadelphia/Portland Opera/Arizona Opera/New Orleans Opera
- Sophie in Prokofieff’s War and Peace, Seattle Opera
- Norma in Norma, Mercury Opera Rochester
- Adalgisa in Norma, Florida Grand Opera/Opera Hamilton
- Violetta in La Traviata, Austin Lyric Opera
- Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy/Austin Lyric Opera/Opera Hamilton/San Antonio Symphony
- Angelina in La Cenerentola, Florentine Opera
- Liu in Turandot, Indianapolis Opera/Nashville Opera/Florentine Opera/Tulsa Opera/Chattanooga
- Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Minnesota Opera/Kentucky Opera
- Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Kentucky Opera/Indianapolis Opera
- Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte, Kentucky Opera
- Pamina in The Magic Flute, Opera Company of Philadelphia
- Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, Opera Company of Philadelphia/Houston Grand Opera/Tacoma Opera/Arizona Opera
- Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Opera Company of Philadelphia/Chattanooga Opera/Opera Omaha
- Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Knoxville Opera/Chattanooga/
- "Soprano" in Carmina Burana, Portland Opera
- Marguerite in Faust, Portland Opera
- double bill of Pagliacci and Carmina Burana, Opera Omaha
- Trouble in Tahiti, La Scala
- Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Chattanooga Symphony and Opera
- Inez in Maria Padilla, Opera Omaha
- The Stepmother (created) in Philip Glass and Robert Moran's The Juniper Tree, Opera Omaha
- Euridice in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, Indianapolis Opera
- Giovanna Seymour in Anna Bolena, Indianapolis Opera
- Hanna in The Merry Widow, Indianapolis Opera/San Antonio Symphony
- Violetta in La Traviata, Austin Lyric/Madison Opera
- Lucy Lockett in The Beggar's Opera, Opera Theater of Saint Louis
- Angelina, Opera Theater of Saint Louis
- Tessa in The Gondoliers, Opera Theater of Saint Louis
- Valencienne in The Merry Widow, Opera Theater of Saint Louis
- Sara in Roberto Devereux, Opera Orchestra of New York in Carnegie Hall
- Walter in La Wally, Opera Orchestra of New York in Carnegie Hall
Roles created
- Cherubino in The Ghosts of Versailles Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan OperaThe Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
John Corglioni - The Stepmother in Philip Glass' and Robert Moran's The Juniper Tree (Reprised at Lincoln Center for New York Premier 2007)
- The Woman in Robert Moran's Desert of Roses Houston Grand OperaHouston Grand OperaHouston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell...
- The title role in the world premiere of Rachel for the Knoxville Opera, with additional performances in Nashville with Nashville Opera
Concert performances
- Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis", Santiago, Chile
- Strauss' "Four Last Songs", Houston, Pittsburgh and San Francisco Ballets
- Solo Quartet of Brahms' "Liebeslieder Waltzes with Mischa and Cipa Dichter", Houston Symphony
- Soprano Soloist with the late Robert Shaw in Verdi's Requiem in New York with the Little Orchestra Society
- Youngstown Symphony in the Mozart Requiem
- Multiple appearances with the New Bedford Symphony as guest soloist
- Erie Symphony for a New Year's Day concert
- Greenville Symphony in Verdi's Requiem
- Houston Masterworks for Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9" and Vaughan Williams' "Benedicite"
- Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy as soprano soloist in Menotti's Mass and his Cantata to St. Teresa of Avila: Muero, Porque no Muero, which she also performed with the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin
- Featured soloist under the baton of Raphael Frubech de Burgos in Rossini's Stabat Mater with the Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra in Berlin