"Thanks to Barbara Kilduff for giving us a vocally textured
and technically flawless performance as Lucia..."

(Opera On-Line)

about the artist

Coloratura soprano Barbara Kilduff enjoys a sparkling career in opera, oratorio and song recital on both sides of the Atlantic. Her voice has been praised as "bright and "silvery", soaring effortlessly with "crystalline coloratura". An experienced and versatile actress, this native New Yorker, following many years performing in Europe, now resides with her husband and two children in Andover, Massachusetts, where she continues to add to her opera roles (most recently Norina, Morgana and Lucia) and broaden her repertoire in oratorio.

National winner of the Metropolitan Opera Council auditions, she went on to win first prize in the Munich International Competition and the silver medal in the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Ms. Kilduff debuted with the Bavarian, Vienna and Hamburg State Operas, as Zerbinetta in Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos, a role she repeated in Basel, Vancouver, Athens and Cologne.

Zerbinetta was also her role in her Metropolitan Opera debut conducted by James Levine. In the same season she appeared as Adele in Die Fledermaus, and returned the following season as Cleopatra in Julius Caesar under Trevor Pinnock, and as Blondchen in Die Entführung aus dem Serail under James Levine. Maestro Levine conducted again at the Metropolitan Opera's 25th Anniversary Gala whenshe performed the Laughing Song from Die Fledermaus. Ms. Kilduff debuted to great acclaim in the role of Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) at the Bavarian State Opera in a production by Brigitte Fassbänder. She repeated this role in New York, San Diego and Vienna (where she also appeared as the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte). She made her La Scala debut as Blondchen under Wolfgang Sawallisch.

Her wide-ranging performances include Queen of Shemakhan (Rimsky-Korsakov's The Golden Cockerel) under Mistislav Rostropovich; the Nightingale and Fire (Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortileges) under Charles Dutoit; Carmina Burana with the St. Louis Symphony under Leonard Slatkin; Schoenberg's Von Heute auf Morgen under Pierre Boulez in Ludwigshafen, Milan, Rome and Vienna; Ännchen (Weber's Die Freischutz)under Wolfgang Sawallisch, Maggio Musicale, Florence and the New York Philharmonic under Sir Colin Davis. She has appeared as soloist in Mahler's Eighth Symphony with the National Symphony of Spain under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, in Bach's St. John Passion with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Bilbao under Juanjo Mena and in Beethoven's Egmont at the Krakow Festival under Aldo Ceccato.

Ms. Kilduff’s numerous recordings include the role of Seele in Schönberg's Jacobsleiter with the Frankfurt Symphonie, Isotta in Strauss' Die Schweigsame Frau with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Madame Herz in Mozart's Schauspieldirektor with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra andas Papagena in the Metropolitan Opera's television broadcast.

As a recitalist Ms. Kilduff has appeared in many artists' series in the United States where she has also presented master classes at universities and colleges. 
She has been a visiting faculty member at Boston University's School for the Arts and the New England Conservatory of Music, and is currently a faculty member at Phillips Academy in Andover.

Ms. Kilduff's recent performances include Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor) with the Granite State Opera under Philip Lauriat, Norina (Don Pasquale) with the Newton Symphony Orchestra under Jeffrey Rink, Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute) and Morgana (Alcina) with Emmanuel Music under Craig Smith, Mozart's Requiem and M. Haydn's Missa Sancti Francisci with the Dedham Choral Society under Jonathan Barnhart and with Coro Allegro under David Hodgkins, the world premiere of Luis Bacalov's Cantos para Nuestros Tiempos (Psalms for Our Times) under William Thomas, the Brahm's Requiem with Chorus North Shore, Haydn's Creation with the Costa Rica National Symphony Orchestra under Chosei Komatsu, Handel's Judas Maccabaeus with Pro Arte Chorale, Haydn's Harmonie Mass with the Cambridge Community Chorus under William Thomas and The Seasons by Haydn with the Andover Choral Society under Allen Combs.

Upcoming performances include an appearance with the Charleston Symphony under David Stahl and  Haydn's Stabat Mater with the Master Works Chorale under Steven Karidoyanes.

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