Fogarty, Melissa

Hailed by The New York Times for her “delirious abandon” onstage, versatile soprano Melissa Fogarty’s wide-ranging experience has taken her from leading child performer at the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera to the opera and concert stage where, as an adult, she made an auspicious debut at New York City Opera in the leading role of Soprano I (Cupid/Venus/Honor) in Mark Morris’s production of Purcell’s King Arthur, conducted by Jane Glover. She has continued her association with City Opera, singing the role of First Lady last summer in City Opera’s Magic Flute in Battery Park.

Ms. Fogarty has impressed the public and critics alike in a variety of contemporary opera ventures. She has been featured in the past three seasons of VOX, New York City Opera’s annual showcase of new American operas. In 2007 Dice Thrown, the virtuosic one-woman “aleatoric soundscape” by John King was the sleeper hit of that year. As described by the New York Observer “the piece became a dazzling coloratura solo of compelling dramatic urgency in a performance by the stunningly accurate soprano Melissa Fogarty.” Her VOX appearances have also included roles in new operas by David Bruce, Chandler Carter, Sorrel Hayes, Ted Hearne, Marc Lowenstein, and Tom Schnauber. She portrayed Dorothy in Chandler Carter’s Strange Fruit (Harlem School for the Arts, in association with NYCO) and Patience in scenes from Paula Kimper’s Patience and Sarah (Musique à la mode, New York).

A favorite of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Del Tredici, Ms. Fogarty has given world premieres of several of his works, including the demanding song cycle A Field Manual, written especially for her, baritone Chris Pedro Trakas, and the Fireworks Ensemble. Ms. Fogarty figured prominently Mr. Del Tredici’s 70th birthday celebrations in 2007. She performed his dazzling song cycle Miz Inez Sez at Sarah Lawrence College, his flamboyant monodrama Dracula at Brooklyn Conservatory, and his Grammy Award-nominated Paul Revere’s Ride with the Canticum Novum Singers. Sought after by numerous other composers and new music groups, Ms. Fogarty has also performed the world premiere of Christopher James’s Five Sappho Fragments, for soprano and chamber orchestra with the esteemed new music ensemble North/South Consonance, conducted by Max Lifchitz and The New Math(s) by Louis Andriessen with the highly regarded ensemble Sequitur at Merkin Concert Hall.

Ms. Fogarty is also much in demand for her lively and elegant interpretations of Baroque and Classical-period music. Ms. Fogarty starred as Serpina in Pergolesi’s La serva padrona with the Seattle Baroque Orchestra at Benaroya Hall, and was cited by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for her “bright attractive soprano and ample technique.” Her many credits in this repertoire include Second Woman in Dido and Aeneas at The Yard (Martha’s Vineyard, 2009), Ottavia in Monteverdi’s Incoronazione di Poppea with Opera Omnia at Le Poisson Rouge (2008), Clorinda in Monteverdi’s Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda with New York’s Metropolis Ensemble (2006); La Poésie in Charpentier’s Les Arts florissants with Concert Royal in New York and Dallas (2002), Oberto in Handel’s Alcina with New York’s Vertical Player Repertory company (2001, 2002), the Israelitish Woman in Handel’s Judas Maccabeus and soprano soloist in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the St. Paul’s Chamber Orchestra at Columbia University (2000); and other roles with New York Collegium, Teatro Bacchino in San Francisco, the Berkeley Early Music Festival, and the Yale Center for British Arts.

In 2006, Ms. Fogarty was honored with an Outmusic Award for “Best Solo Debut – Female” for her album Handel: Scorned and Betrayed (Albany Records). The distinguished singer/musicologist Julianne Baird commented, “Melissa Fogarty’s depiction of these strong-willed, decisive women of history is red-blooded, exciting, and passionate. She brings to bear an exquisite sense of style for this repertoire.” Ms. Fogarty’s other recordings include Scarlatti’s Agar et Ismaele esiliati with the Seattle Baroque Orchestra (Centaur Records) and Forbidden Dance with Ensemble for the Seicento, an album of 17th-century music in which she both sings and plays the baroque guitar (Musicians Showcase).

Ms. Fogarty has earned awards including the Anna Sosenko Assist Trust, the Adams Fellowship at the Carmel Bach Festival and the Giorgio Cini Foundation Fellowship for study in Venice. She was a finalist in the 2008 vocal competition sponsored by Classical Singer magazine.

Ms. Fogarty’s career began with appearances as child soloist at the Metropolitan Opera (including the Shepherd in Tosca in a telecast with Placido Domingo and Hildegard Behrens), New York City Opera (the major role of Marcantonio in the New York premiere of Dominick Argento’s Casanova’s Homecoming), and Sarasota Opera (Flora in Britten’s Turn of the Screw). She received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Applied Voice from the Eastman School of Music.