Thomas Meglioranza
Encyclopedia
Thomas Meglioranza is an American opera
tic baritone
.
Meglioranza was born to an American father of Italian-Polish descent and a Thai mother. Meglioranza grew up in the northern New Jersey towns of Teaneck and Wayne. He began taking voice lessons at Grinnell College
, and earned a MM from the Eastman School of Music
. He is an alum of the training programs at the Aspen, Tanglewood, Bowdoin, Pacific Music Festivals and the Ravinia Festival's Steans Institute, and has been a participant at the Marlboro Music Festival. He has studied with Elizabeth Mannion
, Carol Webber, Beverley Peck Johnson, and Fred Carama.
He was a winner of the 2002 Joy in Singing Competition, the 2002 Concert Artists Guild Competition, the 2003 Franz Schubert/Music of Modernity Competition in Graz, and the 2005 Walter Naumburg Competition, and is a frequent recitalist (most often with pianist Reiko Uchida). He is known for his unusual recital programs (e.g. Schoenberg and His American Pupils Cabaret), but also for talking to audiences from the stage. In 2007, he and Uchida recorded a CD of songs by Franz Schubert
. In 2009 he was appointed Visiting Artist in Voice at the Longy School of Music
in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
He sings a great deal of contemporary music, including the 2008 Tanglewood premiere of John Harbison
's Symphony no. 5 with the Boston Symphony, and Peter Maxwell Davies
' Eight Songs for a Mad King
, and is particularly associated with the music of Milton Babbitt
, Aaron Jay Kernis, Charles Wuorinen
, Derek Bermel, Jorge Martín, and John Adams
.
His operatic repertoire includes Mozart's Count Almaviva and Don Giovanni, as well as many roles in modern works such as Chou En-Lai in John Adams' Nixon in China
, Prior Walter in Peter Eötvös
' Angels in America
, and the title role in Gordon Shi-Wen Chin
's Mackay─The Black Bearded Bible Man.
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...
tic baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
.
Meglioranza was born to an American father of Italian-Polish descent and a Thai mother. Meglioranza grew up in the northern New Jersey towns of Teaneck and Wayne. He began taking voice lessons at Grinnell College
Grinnell College
Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, U.S. known for its strong tradition of social activism. It was founded in 1846, when a group of pioneer New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College....
, and earned a MM from the Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
. He is an alum of the training programs at the Aspen, Tanglewood, Bowdoin, Pacific Music Festivals and the Ravinia Festival's Steans Institute, and has been a participant at the Marlboro Music Festival. He has studied with Elizabeth Mannion
Elizabeth Mannion
Elizabeth Mannion is an American operatic mezzo-soprano who has performed at opera houses throughout the world. A celebrated voice teacher, Mannion has served on the music faculties of the University of Michigan, Indiana University, Florida State University, Bowling Green State University, the...
, Carol Webber, Beverley Peck Johnson, and Fred Carama.
He was a winner of the 2002 Joy in Singing Competition, the 2002 Concert Artists Guild Competition, the 2003 Franz Schubert/Music of Modernity Competition in Graz, and the 2005 Walter Naumburg Competition, and is a frequent recitalist (most often with pianist Reiko Uchida). He is known for his unusual recital programs (e.g. Schoenberg and His American Pupils Cabaret), but also for talking to audiences from the stage. In 2007, he and Uchida recorded a CD of songs by Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
. In 2009 he was appointed Visiting Artist in Voice at the Longy School of Music
Longy School of Music
The Longy School of Music of Bard College is a conservatory located near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1915, it was one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston region along with the New England Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, and Boston...
in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
He sings a great deal of contemporary music, including the 2008 Tanglewood premiere of John Harbison
John Harbison
John Harris Harbison is an American composer, best known for his operas and large choral works.-Life:...
's Symphony no. 5 with the Boston Symphony, and Peter Maxwell Davies
Peter Maxwell Davies
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.-Biography:...
' Eight Songs for a Mad King
Eight Songs for a Mad King
Eight Songs for a Mad King is a monodrama by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies with a libretto by Randolph Stow, based on words of George III. The work was written for the South-African actor Roy Hart and the composer's ensemble the Pierrot Players, and premiered on 22 April 1969...
, and is particularly associated with the music of Milton Babbitt
Milton Babbitt
Milton Byron Babbitt was an American composer, music theorist, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his serial and electronic music.-Biography:...
, Aaron Jay Kernis, Charles Wuorinen
Charles Wuorinen
Charles Peter Wuorinen is a prolific Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer born and living in New York City. His catalog of more than 250 compositions includes works for orchestra, opera, chamber music, as well as solo instrumental and vocal works...
, Derek Bermel, Jorge Martín, and John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
.
His operatic repertoire includes Mozart's Count Almaviva and Don Giovanni, as well as many roles in modern works such as Chou En-Lai in John Adams' Nixon in China
Nixon in China
Nixon in China may refer to:*1972 Nixon visit to China, U.S. President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China**"Nixon in China" , a reference to the above used as a metaphor for an unexpected or uncharacteristic action by a politician*Nixon in China, an opera by composer John...
, Prior Walter in Peter Eötvös
Peter Eötvös
Péter Eötvös is a Hungarian composer and conductor.Eötvös was born in Odorheiu Secuiesc/Székelyudvarhely, Szeklerland, Transylvania . He studied composition in Budapest and Cologne. From 1962, he composed for film in Hungary. Eötvös played regularly with the Stockhausen Ensemble between 1968 and...
' Angels in America
Angels in America
Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is the 1993 Pulitzer Prize winning play in two parts by American playwright Tony Kushner. It has been made into both a television miniseries and an opera by Peter Eötvös.-Characters:...
, and the title role in Gordon Shi-Wen Chin
Gordon S.W. Chin
Gordon Shi-Wen Chin, a Taiwanese composer and conductor, is a member of the faculty of National Taiwan Normal University. He earned his doctoral degree at the Eastman School of Music under Christopher Rouse and Samuel Adler...
's Mackay─The Black Bearded Bible Man.