Top Prize Winner of the 2018 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition Wagner Division, Soprano Amy Shoremount-Obra has garnered major attention for her work on the operatic and concert stage, having 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... superb legato…. roulades and scales... 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 her debut in the title role of “Turandot” with Opera Grand Rapids, her debut in the title role of “Salome” with the Southern Illinois Music Festival, the title role of Daphne (R. Strauss, cvr) with The American Symphony Orchestra, “Leonore” in Beethoven’s Fidelio with the LA Philharmonic (workshop) and Grand Harmonie in Princeton, NJ, the title role of “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 and “Rosalinde” in Die Fledermaus with Maryland Opera in Baltimore, “Freia” (cvr) in Wagner's "Das Rheingold" with the New York Philharmonic, “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 Cosi fan tutte with Annapolis Opera, and “First Lady” in The Magic Flute with the Pacific Symphony in Costa Mesa, California.
Important concert debuts include her Carnegie Hall debut in 2005 as the Soprano Soloist in Brahms’ Requiem with The Juilliard Orchestra under the baton of the late James DePreist, and in 2016, her debut at David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center as the Soprano Soloist in Verdi's Requiem with the National Chorale. During the summer of 2016, she appeared in Honolulu, on The Big Island of Hawaii and in Maui with Virtuoso Violinist Eric Silberger, Louisiana Philharmonic Cellist Daniel Lelchuk and Canadian Pianist Ian Parker for the first season of the Hawaii International Music Festival, a festival she co-founded. Her performance at the Blaisdell Concert Hall included a collaboration with world renowned Taiko Artist Kenny Endo. In 2018, she made her debut with the Orquesta Filarmónica del Estado de Chihuahua in Mexico in a solo concert of arias from Il Trovatore, Nabucco, Tannhäuser, and Turandot. Ms. Shoremount-Obra made her European Operatic debut in 2004 as “Ifigenia” in Handel’s Oreste at the Spoleto Festival, Italy.
Additional recent solo concert engagements include the Fauré Requiem (2013) and Schubert Mass in G (2016) at Carnegie Hall with MidAmerica Productions as well as appearances at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall with the Opera Orchestra of New York as part of the Winners' Concert for the Gerda Lissner Foundation (2018), and with the late Glen Roven for his concert at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall titled "Three Baritones” (2018), Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music with the National Chorale in Lincoln Center at David Geffen Hall (2018), 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 Mass in C and 9th Symphony (2019) and Fauré Requiem (2021) with the New Choral Society (Scarsdale, NY), a collaboration with Argentinean Bandoneon player JP Jofre at Blue Note Hawaii (2017 & 2020) in Honolulu, Kodály’s Te Deum and Vaughan-Williams’ Serenade to Music with the Oregon Music Festival (2019), a solo recital with Pianist Andrew Rosenblum on Hawaii’s Big Island (2019), a concert of opera favourites with the Camerata Orchestra of New York (2019), various concerts with Maryland Opera (2019-2023) performing scenes from Tosca, Un ballo in Maschera, Madame Butterfly and Manon Lescaut, Aida, and Fanciulla del West, various performances at the Viennese Opera Ball of New York (2010-2016), Quadrille Ball (2020, 2023) and the Fire Island Opera Festival (2013, 2014) (including a concert in Marfa, TX with Marfa Live Arts 2015), appearances with the FL Keys Concert Association (2013, 2015), a concert of opera favourites 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), special appearances 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 Christopher Cooley at the Savannah Voice Festival (2015), Beethoven's 9th Symphony at SUNY Purchase under the baton of Justin Bischof (2017), 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), an Artist-In-Residency at the University of Tulsa (2019) which included a solo recital, 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. Most recently she performed again as the Soprano Soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Erie Philharmonic and in a concert of Puccini with Knoxville Opera.
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. Most recently, Ms. Shoremount-Obra appeared in Boston as “Artemis” in the world premiere of Dan Visconti and Cerise Jacob’s virtual reality video game opera “PermaDeath” (2018).
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 together with pianist Christopher Cooley, the 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). She continues her vocal studies in New York as a student of Diana Soviero.
September 2023
