Dawn Upshaw

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Biography

Dawn Upshaw (born July 17, 1960) is an United States|American soprano described as "one of the most consequential performers of our time" by the Los Angeles Times . The recipient of several Gramophone Awards|Grammy Award s and Edison Prize -winning discs, Upshaw is at home both in opera and art song , and in repertoire from Baroque music|Baroque to contemporary music|contemporary . Many composers, including Osvaldo Golijov , John Harbison , Esa-Pekka Salonen , John Adams (composer)|John Adams , and Kaija Saariaho , have written for her, and her artistic achievements are extensive. In 2007 she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship .

Overview

Upshaw was born in Nashville, Tennessee . She began her vocal career as a talented Rich East High School singer in Park Forest, Illinois and later attended Interlochen Arts Academy. Upshaw received a B.A. in 1982 from Illinois Wesleyan University , where she studied voice with the late Dr. David Nott. She went on to study voice with Ellen Faull at the Manhattan School of Music in New York , earning her M.M. in 1984. She also attended courses given by Jan DeGaetani at the Aspen (Colorado) Music School. She was a winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions (1984) and the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation|Walter M. Naumburg Competition (1985), and was a member of the Metropolitan Opera Young Artists Development Program. Since her start in 1984, Upshaw has made more than 300 appearances at the Metropolitan Opera .

Upshaw came to international fame with her million-selling recording (1993), with David Zinman , of the hauntingly powerful Symphony No. 3 (Górecki)|Symphony No 3 by Henryk Górecki , known as the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs ( Symfonia piesni zalosnych ).

In the past decade she has premiered more than 25 new works and has embraced several works created for her, including the Grawemeyer Award -winning opera L’Amour de Loin by Kaija Saariaho , The Great Gatsby (opera)|The Great Gatsby by John Harbison , the nativity oratorio El Niño (oratorio)|El Niño by John Adams (composer)|John Adams , and Osvaldo Golijov|Osvaldo Golijov's highly acclaimed chamber opera Ainadamar and song cycle Ayre . In 2009 she premiered David Bruce (composer)|David Bruce's song cycle The North Wind was a Woman at the gala opening of the Chamber Music Society of the Lincoln Centre's season.

Some feel that her rendition of Golijov's Ayre made her almost seem a charismatic rock-singer. It is a tribute to her vocal range, as well as her star-stature, that she has moved out of the traditional role of a classical singer. In addition to her operatic recordings, she has also sung the title role in the first complete recording of the score of Gershwin 's Oh, Kay! . Oh, Kay! restored by Tommy Krasker , starring Dawn Upshaw and Kurt Ollmann, Roxbury Recordings (Nonesuch 1995)

She has also recorded albums of songs by Vernon Duke and Rodgers and Hart . Dawn Upshaw sings Rodgers & Hart , recorded NYC June 1995, (Nonesuch 1996) Upshaw was a guest of President of the United States Bill Clinton and Mrs. Clinton on the NBC special, Christmas in Washington . The BBC presented a prime-time telecast of her 1996 London Proms Concert, "Dawn at Dusk", in which she performed songs from the American musical theater . Her engagements with James Levine over the years led to a 1997 recording of Claude Debussy|Debussy songs.

She tours regularly with piano accompanist Richard Goode . Margo Garrett and Gilbert Kalish are also long-standing partners. She has worked with the director Peter Sellars many times, including his staging of Handel|Händel 's Theodora at Glyndebourne Festival Opera|Glyndebourne , his Paris production of Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky 's '' The Rake's Progress '' (as part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen 's month-long residency at the Théâtre du Châtelet ) (1996), a staging of J. S. Bach|Bach 's cantata BWV 199, presented in the 1995-96 season at New York's 92nd Street Y , and the Salzburg Festival production of Olivier Messiaen 's Saint François d'Assise (1998). Ms. Upshaw has often performed as a soloist at the annual Ojai Music Festival in Ojai, CA; most recently in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

Dawn Upshaw joined the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as Artistic Partner beginning with the 2007-08 season, and she is Artistic Director of the Graduate Program in Vocal Arts at the Bard College Conservatory of Music , which accepted its first students in the 2006-2007 academic year. She also is a faculty member at the Tanglewood Music Center .

She holds honorary Doctor of Arts , honoris causa , from Yale University , the Manhattan School of Music , Illinois Wesleyan University and Allegheny College .

Upshaw is divorced and a mother of two. She lives near New York City|New York .

Upshaw was diagnosed with and treated for early-stage breast cancer in 2006.

Awards and recognitions

2007 MacArthur Fellow

2006 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording :

The Atlanta Symphony and Chorus with Dawn Upshaw for Osvaldo Golijov|Golijov : Ainadamar (Fountain of Tears)

2003 Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music Performance :

The Kronos Quartet & Dawn Upshaw for Alban Berg|Berg : Lyric Suite

1991 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Soloist :

Dawn Upshaw, artist for The Girl with Orange Lips ( Falla , Ravel , etc.)

1989 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Soloist :

Dawn Upshaw, artist for Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (Music of Samuel Barber|Barber , Menotti , John Harbison|Harbison , Stravinsky )

Works (selection)

1992: Symphony No. 3 (Górecki)|Symphony No. 3 ( Henryk Górecki ), Nonesuch Records|Nonesuch /Elektra Records 79282

Copyright Citations

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1. Gustavo Santaolalla 2. Kronos Quartet 3. Esa Pekka Salonen 4. Luciana Souza 5. Osvaldo Golijov 6. Richard Goode

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