Rebecca Copley

Liebestod Rec.:

2000? Dir. ? (Orchestra ?) - her Website

Copley, Rebecca, Sopran, * ?. Hailed by critics as one of America's most gifted vocalists, Rebecca Copley has performed with leading opera companies and orchestras worldwide. In 1987, she scored a stunning success as Desdemona opposite James McCracken in Otello at the New Jersey State Opera. Acclaimed as a major new talent, she received similar accolades in France following a performance of the Verdi Requiem with the Paris Opera. Since then, she has triumphed in many of opera's most demanding roles throughout the United States, South America and Europe. Highlights for the 2000/2001 season include the title role of Puccini's Turandot with Opera Carolina and the Minnesota Opera, Verdi's Lady Macbeth with Opera Pacific in Costa Mesa, and participation in "Le Gala 5e Edition" with L'Opera de Montreal.Opening the 1999/2000 season in September with the prestigious Prague Autumn Festival, Ms. Copley thrilled audiences with an evening of all Verdi arias and duets and a concert that included Mozart concert arias and Rossini's Stabat Mater. In November, she sang Verdi's Requiem with the National Chorale in New York's Avery Fisher Hall. This was followed by performances of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius with the Kansas City Symphony, and a return to Rollins College and The Bach Festival Society for an all Wagner program. Season 1998/1999 included her debut in Bilbao, Spain, performing and recording the title role in Jesus Guridi's Basque opera, Amaya, in June of 1998. Amaya has since been released in Spain as a private limited edition recording, followed by the international Marco Polo release in October 2000. Ms. Copley opened the Ft. Worth Opera season with Turandot, performed Norma with the Baltimore Opera, Aida in Louisiana, Penderecki's Polish Requiem in Vancouver, Mahler's Symphony No. 4 with Philippe Entremont in Santo Domingo, and numerous other orchestral engagements and recitals. The 1997/1998 season saw her return to the Metropolitan Opera for Stiffelio (Lina) conducted by James Levine, including Placido Domingo, Paul Plishka and Vladimir Chernov. Ms. Copley also sang Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Memphis and the New Haven Symphony Orchestras and toured Japan with the same work, performing in Tokyo, Nagoya, Yokohama, Osaka, and Sapporo. 1996/1997 saw her much anticipated debut as Tatiana in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin with the Palm Beach Opera conducted by Anton Guadagno, with bass Paul Plishka singing the role of Prince Gremin. L'Orchestra de Montreal later welcomed her for "Gala" Italian aria concerts. Other performances were Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the same work at Chicago's Grant Park Festival (both conducted by Hugh Wolff), and appearances with the National Chorale in Avery Fisher Hall, New York, with orchestral engagements in Puerto Rico, Savannah, and Winter Park, Florida. Her schedule for the 1994/1995 season included Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera as well as concert performances of Turandot with the Knoxville Symphony, the Verdi Requiem with the Memphis Symphony, an all-Wagner concert with the Austin Symphony, a program of arias with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and Gorecki's Symphony No. 3 with the San Diego Symphony. Ms. Copley's 1993/1994 season included performances of Mozart's Die Zauberflote at the Metropolitan Opera, Verdi's Il Trovatore with the Palm Beach Opera and Don Giovanni with the Ft. Worth Opera. In the spring of 1994, she scored a great success in South Africa as Abigaille in Verdi's Nabucco. Her concert schedule included engagements with the Louisville Orchestra, the Quad City Symphony and the Sioux City Symphony. Seasons with the Metropolitan Opera have also included Don Giovanni, Un Ballo in Maschera (Ms. Copley's debut with the company), and Il Trovatore, as well as performances on East Asian tours and in the New York City Parks. Ms. Copley made her New York City Opera debut as the Ice Princess, Turandot. Earlier, having bowed as Leonore in Il Trovatore with Deutsche Oper Berlin, she triumphed as Norma with the Palm Beach Opera and the Connecticut Opera, and sang Aida to great acclaim with Knoxville Opera and Arizona Opera. Concert appearances for Rebecca Copley are in demand and have included Britten's War Requiem and the Verdi Requiem with the New Jersey Symphony and Hugh Wolff, Mendelssohn's Lobgesang with the Cleveland Orchestra, several engagements with Robert Shaw, including Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Dallas Symphony, performances of Verdi's Requiem, and Elijah with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Other highlights have been the Brahm's Requiem and Bach Cantatas with the National Chorale, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis in Rio de Janeiro, and Bach's Mass in B Minor with New York's Musica Sacra at Avery Fisher Hall. Ms. Copley was soprano soloist for the live, nationwide PBS telecast of Handel's Messiah and Bach's Passion According to St. Matthew - "An American Easter" - from Bethany College.

Rebecca Copley is a resident of Lindsborg, Kansas, a Swedish arts community and the home of Bethany College, where she received her training.

Site: http://www.rebeccacopley.com