Irene Gubrud (In Memoriam)
Irene Gubrud
Adjunct Lecturer, Voice
An artist greatly esteemed by some of the most illustrious figures in music, soprano Irene Gubrud has captivated audiences throughout the United States and Europe with the warmth and rich beauty of her voice, and her ability to bring fresh insights of musical and dramatic understanding to her performances. During her distinguished career, Gubrud, a First Prize winner of the Walter M. Naumburg International Voice Competition, has performed with the major symphonies of this country at the request of such prestigious conductors as Maazel, Boulez, Leinsdorf, Ormandy, Comissiona, Entremont, Shaw, Schwartz, and Slatkin. A much sought-after recitalist and orchestral soloist, she has sung with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Cleveland Orchestra, as well as the symphonies of St. Louis, San Francisco, Minnesota, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Cincinnati, the National Symphony, and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. In Europe, she has sung with the Stuttgart and Bavarian Radio Orchestras, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Holland, and the Symphony of Bordeaux. A recital tour in Norway included a performance at the Akershus Castle in Oslo, and at the Bergen International Festival. She toured East Germany with the Baltimore Symphony, the first American orchestra ever to play there during the time of the Berlin Wall.
In opera, her debut as Mimi in La bohème with Opera St. Paul was hailed as "glorious" by the public and critics alike. She has performed Poulenc's monodrama La voix humaine often, a work first staged for her at the Central City Opera by Nathaniel Merrill of the Metropolitan Opera and Opera Colorado. Subsequently, she performed it at the Ravel Festival in France at the invitation of Pierre Bernac. Other operatic performances include evenings of Verdi arias and scenes with Sarah Caldwell of Boston Opera.
Engagements at the Lincoln and Kennedy Centers have been regular features of her many recital tours throughout the United States. She has appeared at the Casals Festivals in Mexico City and Puerto Rico, as well as at the Meadowbrook, Summerfest, and Blossom festivals. She in an artist-faculty member at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where in addition to performing, she gives master classes in voice, and teaches a course in how to reach optimal performing levels called "Meditation for Peak Performance." Gubrud has served as a panelist for the Opera and Musical Theatre Program, and the Solo Recitalists Program of the National Endowment of the Arts. Recently she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Concordia College. She has recorded for Musical Heritage Society, CRI, Delos, and Augsburg Publishing.
As a voice teacher in New York City, Gubrud is much sought after for her ability to help singers reach high levels of excellence in performing. She has been a guest teacher at The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music, and has taught master classes in numerous venues, including Yale Summer School of Music and Art, Cincinnati College Conservatory, Minnesota Opera University of Wisconsin, St. Olaf College, Muhlenberg College, University of Minnesota, and Cal-Arts, Bakersfield. She was artist-in-residence at Washington University in St. Louis for six years, and has been adjunct faculty at Columbia University, Queens College (CUNY), and Brooklyn College Conservatory.
