MaryAnn McCormick
Internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano MaryAnn McCormick joins the New England Conservatory voice studio faculty with the 2015/2016 academic year.
MaryAnn McCormick has been hailed in the press as "charismatic," "spell-binding," and "elegant." Her international credits include Isabella in L'Italiana in Algeri at La Scala, Azucena in Il Trovatore at the Teatro Regio Torino, and First Maid in Elektra with Christoph von Dohnanyi at the Opéra National de Paris. She has also performed Maddalena in Rigoletto under Daniele Gatti at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna and with Seattle Opera and Gluck's Alceste under Bruno Bartoletti at the Teatro Regio di Parma.
Her recent accomplishments include performances as Carmen with Theater St. Gallen, Switzerland, of which the critics wrote “She acts and sings a wonderful Carmen”—a role she has also performed with Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro Regio di Torino and the Staatsoper Stuttgart, among others. MaryAnn returned to the Metropolitan Opera in their 2011 season to sing the role of Grimgerde in their new production of Die Walküre, which was broadcast in HD in theaters internationally. This production, part of the complete Ring Cycle, was recently released on DVD and also won the 2012 Grammy award for Best Classical Album.
In recent seasons, she made debuts with both Teatro la Fenice in Die Walküre, conducted by Jeffrey Tate, and Teatro dell'Opera di Roma as Priyamvada in Alfano's Sakuntala. She can be heard as Tigrana in Puccini's Edgar in a recording with the Orchestre National de France led by Yoël Levi. MaryAnn sang Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with Opera Colorado, the role of Nefertiti in Phillip Glass's Akhnaten with Atlanta Opera, and performances of Das Lied Von der Erde with the Orchestra Verdi in Milan, conducted by Ion Marin—a piece she has also performed with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia to standing ovations. In 2010, she created the roles of Grandma Josephine and Mrs. Teavee for the world premiere with Opera Theatre of St. Louis of Peter Ash's The Golden Ticket, an opera based on Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Other recent engagements include performances as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly at Lyric Opera of Chicago during their 2013–14 season, Act III of Die Walküre at the Tanglewood festival with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the North American premiere of Huang Ruo’s opera Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, sung in Mandarin, for Santa Fe Opera’s 2014 season, in the role of Ni Gui-Zhen.
MaryAnn returned to the Metropolitan Opera in 2014 to sing again in their productions of Die Walküre and as Soeur Mathilde in their critically acclaimed production of Dialogues of the Carmelites. In the 2015 season she has performed the role of Giovanna in Verdi’s Ernani with the Metropolitan Opera conducted by James Levine and Das Lied von der Erde at Montclair State University. Upcoming engagements include Rigoletto at the Metropolitan Opera and a reprisal of Ni Gui-Zhen in Dr. Sun Yat-Sen for the Vancouver Opera.
With the Metropolitan Opera of New York, MaryAnn has performed roles in many operas over more than twenty seasons, including Die Walküre, Don Carlo, Carmen, La Traviata, Die Zauberflöte, L’Enfant et les sortilèges, and the world premiere of John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles. MaryAnn has also performed with the Lyric Opera of Chicago in Il Barbiere di Seviglia as Rosina, Opera Theatre of St. Louis in the North American premiere of Jonathan Dove's Flight as the Minsk Woman, and as Prince Charmant in Cendrillon, Santa Fe Opera as Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Opera Colorado as Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Opera Ireland as Olga in Eugene Onegin, and Boston Lyric Opera as the title role in Cenerentola.
Mary Ann McCormick has toured Japan with Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Philadelphia Orchestra in performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, a work she has also performed with Leonard Slatkin and the Cleveland Orchestra, Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St-Martin-in-the-Fields, Edo de Waart and the Dutch Radio Philharmonic, and the Illinois Symphony. Other concert highlights include Ariadne auf Naxos with Sawallisch and the Philadelphia Orchestra; John Corigliano’s Of Rage and Remembrance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra: Mozart’s Requiem, and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the Montreal Symphony: Handel’s Messiah with the National Symphony, the Montreal Symphony, and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra: Bruch’s Odysseus with the American Symphony Orchestra: Verdi’s Messa di Requiem with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and the Oratorio Society of New York; El Amor Brujo with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and Robert Spano; and the Tanglewood Festival in Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle with Emanuel Ax and Robert Spano accompanying, conducted by Grant Llewellyn.
As a recitalist and chamber musician, MaryAnn’s notable performances include recitals in New York’s Morgan Library for the George London Foundation, NEC’s Jordan Hall with Robert Spano, the Châtelet in Paris, and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and Philadelphia’s Academy of Music accompanied by Wolfgang Sawallisch.
MaryAnn has recorded with the Emerson String Quartet in the Grammy-nominated recording of Anton Webern’s Three Pieces for String Quartet, Op. 3, No. 3, on Deutsche Grammophon, as well as the New York Philharmonic and Orchestre National de France. She is featured singing in the Miramax film The Talented Mr. Ripley.
B.M. in vocal performance, Performer's Certificate in opera, Eastman School of Music; Artist Diploma, New England Conservatory. Studies with Edward Zambara, Marlena Malas, Fred Carama.