| Marcia Swanston |
Introduction "...and Marcia Swanston as Azucena...swept all before her, ranging with unflagging vocal ease from maddening curses to maternal love while avoiding the caricature of a gypsy hag. It was truly a memorable performance..." The Vancouver Sun, Floyd St. Clair BiographyMarcia Swanston, mezzo-soprano, enjoys a varied career commanding an astounding array of vivid operatic roles and a wide variety of oratorio and concert repertoire. She has received critical acclaim for her wide-ranging acting ability as well as for her dramatic musical interpretation and technical ease. Career highlights include Mrs. Sedley in L’Opéra de Montréal’s PETER GRIMES, Czipra in ZIGEUNERBARON with Pacific Opera Victoria, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS with Symphony Nova Scotia, Mahler’s DES KNABEN WUNDERHORN and a recording of Somers’ SERINETTE. Ms Swanston is Associate Professor of Voice in the Department of Music at Dalhousie University and is an ardent champion of quality instruction for talented young vocalists. She also devotes herself to the presentation of song literature and presents lecture/recitals with her colleague Wendy Neilson in the Maritimes and across Canada. She continues her professional activities and was heard last season in Verdi’s REQUIEM with the Baton Rouge Symphony. Other recent highlights have included Marthe in FAUST and Filipievna in EUGENE ONEGIN for Vancouver Opera, Bach’s MATTHÄUS PASSION in Edmonton with the Richard Eaton Singers, and Mama McCourt in THE BALLAD OF BABY DOE for Calgary Opera. She was heard for Symphony Nova Scotia in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and she also appeared for the Nova Scotians in Mahler’s DAS LIED VON DER ERDE, and the same composer’s Symphony No. 3 with Orchestra London and the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony. Verdi’s REQUIEM marked her return to the Victoria Symphony and she was back in London, Ontario as Azucena in IL TROVATORE. She has also sung Mama Lucia in CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA for Vancouver Opera, MESSIAH with Symphony Nova Scotia and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 for Brott Summer Music. Ms. Swanston has appeared with virtually every major opera company in Canada in roles ranging from Mrs. Grose in THE TURN OF THE SCREW (Pacific Opera, the Canadian Opera Company and L'Opéra de Montréal) and Florence Pike in ALBERT HERRING (COC and Calgary Opera) to Marcellina in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO (COC, Edmonton Opera and Vancouver Opera) and Tisbe in LA CENERENTOLA (Opera Lyra and Opera Ontario). South of the border for Cincinnati Opera, she sang Buryakova in Janácek's JENUFA, a role she has sung for the opera companies of Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver. She co-starred in Verdi's BALLO IN MASCHERA with Richard Margison and was also heard as Marta in Tchaikovsky's IOLANTA at the Toronto Arts Centre with the Canadian Opera Company. In the realm of modern opera, at the Elora Festival, she premiered Timothy Sullivan's FLORENCE, THE LADY WITH THE LAMP and, with the Canadian Opera Company, world premieres of Harry Somers' MARIO AND THE MAGICIAN and Randolph Peters' NOSFERATU. After receiving a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Lethbridge, Ms. Swanston completed post-graduate studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, England, and later attended the Britten Pears School for Advanced Musical Study in Suffolk. She appeared at the Aldeburgh Festival, in recital as well as the Britten operas OWEN WINGRAVE and THE TURN OF THE SCREW and, notably, as Marta in Tchaikovsky's IOLANTA with Galina Vishnevskaya, conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich. Her association with Aldeburgh has continued in North America through concerts with the Aldeburgh Connection and she is a past member of the voice faculty at the University of Western Ontario. January 2012
Full RepertoireOPERA
CONCERT/ORATORIO
Recital Programs upon request Engaged By
Reviews“Marcia Swanston’s Marthe was the perfect foil to the Devil and she sang and acted with aplomb.” ( Vancouver Opera – FAUST) Opera Canada – Christopher Darling“Swanston’s ‘Mrs.’ went from mean drunk to Mother of us All with masterful conviction.” San Francisco Examiner – Timothy Pfaff“Mezzo soprano Marcia Swanston delivered a powerful Katisha and a rather aggressive, though vocally superb Buttercup.” Winnipeg Free Press – James Manishen“Ms. Swanston performed these songs with panache. She is a true mezzo with greatest richness in the mid-range and darker overtones to her flexible voice…she can soar effortlessly when needs be.” The Daily Gleaner – Vivienne Anderson“Marcia Swanston as the housekeeper sang with melodic finesse and an order of diction that rendered the surtitles virtually superfluous.” The Montreal Gazette – Arthur Kaptainis“Marcia Swanston conveyed a rational, intelligent characterization…sonorously vocalized.” -(as Ulrica in UN BALLO IS MASCHERA) |