Frederica von Stade

Mezzo-soprano and pre-eminent American artist Frederica von Stade has sung in opera houses around the world including the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, La Scala, the Vienna State Opera, and on countless concert stages. Her repertoire has spanned the Baroque era to modern music (including jazz and pop). Particularly acclaimed for French repertoire, she was awarded Chevalier of France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Her many firsts have included the US premiere of Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, the first recording of Massenet’s Cendrillon, and world premieres of operas by many composers. Today’s concert marks her first occasion to sing in Ukrainian and Yiddish. Featured in over 100 recordings, she was twice the winner of a Grand Prix du Disque and has been nominated 12 times for a Grammy award. Among her acclaimed work locally was playing Mrs. Patrick de Rocher in the premiere of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking at San Francisco Opera and the premiere of Nathaniel Stookey’s Into the Bright Lights (based on her own poetry) with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. “Flicka” is beloved in the San Francisco Bay Area also for her community outreach. A practicing Roman Catholic, she has engaged in extensive charitable work in local Catholic schools and with the Young Musicians Choral Orchestra in the East Bay.