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Carmen Balthrop, soprano

Carmen Balthrop, soprano, has an astonishing range of repertoire from Baroque opera to contemporary song literature. She has appeared with most of the major opera companies in North America including The Metropolitan, San Francisco, and Houston among many, as well as European opera houses including Venice (Teatro La Fenice) and Berlin (Teatro des Westens). In 1999 she premiered the role of Vanqui written by the award winning composer Leslie Savoy Burrs and the libretto written by the award winning novelist and poet John A. Williams. The opera Vanqui was commissioned by Opera/Columbus.

Her orchestral appearances include oratorio and concert performances with the New York Philharmonic, National, Boston, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Houston and Detroit symphonies. In great demand as a recitalist, she has performed at the White House, the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, as well as in Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, China and Mexico and the Bahamas. National Public Radio chose to air, on Christmas day (2000), the live recording of her Chrismas art song recital, performed at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Ms.Balthropís discography, found on the Deutsche Grammophon, Elan, New World, and Fonit Cetra labels, includes the title roles of Scott Joplin's Treemonisha and Claudio Monteverdi's LíIncoronazione di Poppea. Her solo compact disc entitled The Art Of Christmas, Volume I was released in the fall of 2003. Most recently, Ms. Balthrop has performed for the visit of President Nelson Mandela.

As Professor of Voice in the School of Music at the University of Maryland, she was inducted into the University's Alumni Hall of Fame. Upcoming engagements include performances of singing as the soprano lead in the world premier of composer/double bassist, Frank Proto's Profanation of Hubert J. Fort at the International String Bass Convention in Richmond, Virginia, Michaela in Bizet's Carmen, and the recording of her second Christmas compact disc.