Amy Shoremount-Obra
Amy Shoremount-Obra
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Voice
- Website: amyshoremount-obra.com
Top-Prize Winner of the 2018 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition Wagner Division, Soprano Amy Shoremount-Obra has garnered attention for her work on the operatic and concert stage, having recently been hailed by Opera News as having sung a “really outstanding (Donna) Anna, accurate and with exciting thrust, including the best vengeance aria I’ve heard since Carol Vaness’ heyday." Her voice has been described as one that portrays “sensitivity yet full-throated power” (Huffington Post) and that “allies dramatic weight, particularly in the upper register, with virtuoso flexibility... [and with] superb legato….roulades and scales.. [that become] truly expressive gestures” (Opera News) while it “thrills with laser-like top notes” (BostonClassicalReview.com).
Ms. Shoremount-Obra made her much-anticipated Metropolitan Opera Debut in October 2014 as “First Lady” in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, singing all nine performances of the opera, three of which were Sirius XM Satellite Broadcasts. She recently returned to the Met for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons for the revival of the English version of the opera in the same role. In previous seasons at the Met, she has covered the roles of "Donna Anna" in Don Giovanni, "Anna" in Nabucco, “Clotilde” in Norma, “Aksinya” in Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and “Queen of the Night” (also in Die Zauberflöte). Ms. Shoremount-Obra’s other recent operatic appearances have included “Maria” in Pacini’s Maria, Regina d’Inghilterra and “Marchesa” in Verdi’s Un giorno di Regno with Odyssey Opera of Boston, the title role in Tosca with Maryland Opera in Baltimore, “Donna Anna” in Don Giovanni with Opera Las Vegas, The Savannah Voice Festival, and NYC's new Venture Opera, “Musetta” in La bohème with the Savannah Philharmonic, “Fiordiligi” in Così fan tutte with Annapolis Opera, “Leonore” in Beethoven’s Fidelio with Grand Harmonie in Princeton, NJ, “Artemis” in the world premiere of Dan Visconti and Cerise Jacob’s PermaDeath videogame opera in Boston, “Freia” (cvr) in Wagner's Das Rheingold with the New York Philharmonic, and “First Lady” in The Magic Flute with the Pacific Symphony in Costa Mesa, California.
Recent solo concert engagements include five appearances at Carnegie Hall (Brahms’ Requiem (2005) with the Juilliard Orchestra, Fauré Requiem (2013) and Schubert Mass in G (2016) with MidAmerica Productions, a performance at Zankel Hall with the Opera Orchestra of New York as part of the Winners' Concert for the Gerda Lissner Foundation (2018), and a 2018 concert with the late Glen Roven at Weill Recital Hall titled "Three Baritones"; a solo concert in Mexico with the Orquesta Filarmónica del Estado de Chihuahua (2018); her first collaboration with Argentinean Bandoneon player JP Jofre at Blue Note Hawaii in Honolulu (2017); an appearance with Taiko Artist Kenny Endo at the Blaisdell Concert Hall in Honolulu (2016) with the Hawaii International Music Festival, a festival Ms. Shoremount-Obra co-founded in 2016; Kodály’s Te Deum and Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music with the Oregon Music Festival (2019); Haydn Lord Nelson Mass/Mozart Coronation Mass (2013), Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle (2017), Gounod's St. Cecilia Mass and Schubert's Mass in G (2018), Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Mass in C (2019) with the Scarsdale New Choral Society; Verdi’s Requiem (2016) and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music (2018) with the National Chorale in Lincoln Center at David Geffen Hall; various performances at the Viennese Opera Ball of New York (2010-2016) and the Fire Island Opera Festival (2013, 2014) (including a concert in Marfa, TX with Marfa Live Arts 2015); an appearance at the Quadrille Ball of NY (2020); appearances with the FL Keys Concert Association (2013, 2015); a concert of opera favorites at Yavapai College in Prescott, AZ (2016); a recital with Tenor Cameron Schutza in Lincoln Center with the Wagner Society of New York (2017); an appearance with Opera America’s New Opera Showcase (2017); a concert with Violinist Eric Silberger and Pianist Carlin Ma at The Old Church in Portland, OR (2017); a special appearance at the Sherrill Milnes Gala in NYC (2017 & 2019); a concert appearance at the Savannah Music Festival (2016); a solo recital of Rachmaninoff with pianist Chris Cooley at the Savannah Voice Festival (2015); Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at SUNY Purchase under the baton of Justin Bischof (2017); a recital at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma (2019); an appearance performing scenes from Tosca, Norma, and Lohengrin with the Camerata Orchestra of NY (2019); an Artist-in-Residency at the Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua in collaboration with Opera Guadalajara which culminated with a performance with Mexican Tenor Manuel Castillo (2017); and a solo recital with pianist Eunjung Lee as part of the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series at the Chicago Cultural Center (2013). This recital aired live on WFMT, Chicago’s Classical Station.
Ms. Shoremount-Obra made her European operatic debut in 2004 as “Ifigenia” in Handel’s Oreste at the Spoleto Festival, Italy. A champion of new music, Ms. Shoremount-Obra has premiered/collaborated with some of today’s most popular and notable composers including Tarik O’Regan, Dan Visconti, John Zorn, and Paola Prestini. She completed a one-year residency in 2011/12 with American Opera Projects as part of their Composers and the Voice Program, where she premiered music written specifically for her, by a team of six composers/librettist teams. Ms. Shoremount-Obra is a 2004 New York Regional Winner and National Semi-Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She has also won numerous awards from other organizations, including the Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation, which she was awarded at her graduation from The Juilliard School and has since been supported with supplemental grants from the same foundation. She is the 2016 winner of the Ursula Springer Award from the Wagner Society of New York and 2019 Second Prize Winner in the Joy In Singing International Art Song Competition. She is a native of New Jersey and holds degrees from Manhattan School of Music (BM, MM) and The Juilliard School (AD). As a teaching professional, Ms. Shoremount-Obra is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Voice at the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College (CUNY). She previously held an adjunct position as a professor of vocal methods at The College of New Jersey and several artist-in-residency positions at Lawrence Conservatory of Music (Wisconsin) and at the Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua in Mexico. She has given master classes and lectures at Lawrence, the NJ Governor’s School of the Arts, the University of Tulsa, the Pennsylvania Music Education Association, the Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, and at various festivals and workshops throughout the United States. She is on the faculty of the Juilliard Nord Anglia Summer Voice Program in Orlando, FL and the OperaTunity Voice Program with the Palm Springs Opera Guild in Palm Springs, CA. She also maintains a private studio in both Manhattan and New Jersey. Upcoming engagements include the title role of Turandot with Opera Grand Rapids and as soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Erie Philharmonic, among many others. Please visit www.amyshoremount-obra.com for Ms. Shoremount-Obra’s complete schedule.
