With every appearance, soprano MARY DUNLEAVY
continues to show audiences and critics alike why she is such a vibrant and compelling artist.
Her 2008-2009 season begins slightly later than normal – and happily so – as she takes
the early fall off to prepare for the birth of her first child, due in September.
Her return to the stage later in the fall is in a series of concerts with the Philadelphia Orchestra
in excerpts from Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg with James Conlon at the podium. She then debuts with Seattle Opera as Léïla in
Les pêcheurs de perles, followed by debuts with Lyric Opera of Kansas City and
Glimmerglass Opera as Violetta in La traviata, the latter of which is a new
production directed by Sir Johnathan Miller to celebrate his 20th anniversary of his debut with
the summer festival.
In the 2007-2008 season, she made debuts with Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels as Aspasia
in Mitridate, re di Ponto and Los Angeles Opera as the Infanta in Der Zwerg as
part of the company’s groundbreaking Recovered Voices series.
These were followed by a return to Boston Lyric Opera as Konstanze in an English-language version of The Abduction from the Seraglio
and a debut with the Austin Symphony Orchestra in
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.
Among Mary’s earlier career highlights are: Violetta at the Met,
Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, New York City Opera, Opera
Theatre of Saint Louis, and with the Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest; Gilda at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Hamburgische
Staatsoper, Teatro Municipal de Santiago, and Opera Pacific; Konstanze with the Ensemble Orchestral
de Paris, Cincinnati May Festival, Washington National Opera, NYCO and Opera Company of Philadelphia;
Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro in Philadelphia; Donna Anna in Don
Giovanni with Michigan Opera Theatre; Pamina with the Met, Boston Lyric Opera, and Portland Opera; Giunia in Lucio
Silla at De Nederlandse Opera; Adele in Die Fledermaus with the Opéra National de Paris; Micaëla
in Carmen at the Metropolitan Opera, De Nederlandse and Pittsburgh Operas; Ophélie in
Hamlet at Gran Teatre del Liceu; Léïla in Les pêcheurs de perles with NYCO, Opera Company
of Philadelphia, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; the title role in
Thaïs with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; all four heroines in Les contes d'Hoffmann at The Dallas Opera (where she won the 2006
Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year Award); Olympia and Antonia in Les contes d'Hoffmann at the Met;
Héro in Béatrice et Bénédict in Amsterdam; Musetta in La boheme with the Met in the Parks; Adina in L'elisir d'amore at Naples’ Teatro di San Carlo
and Portland Opera; Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi at NYCO; Amina in La
Sonnambula in Bilbao; and
the title-role in Lucia di Lammermoor with L’Opéra de Montréal
and Connecticut Opera. Her Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte,
a role which she retired in 2002, was heard at the Met, Lyric Opera
of Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, Houston Grand Opera, Deutsche
Staatsoper Berlin, Amsterdam, Aix-en-Provence, Montréal and NYCO.
Mary’s orchestral appearances have included: Beethoven's
Symphony No. 9 with the Atlanta Symphony, (available
on Telarc, Donald Runnicles conducting), the Teatro Municipal de Santiago, and the St.
Louis Symphony. With the latter, she also performed Mozart concert arias
under the late Hans Vonk, and Handel's Messiah with new symphony conductor David Robertson. In addition, she has been heard in: Britten’s Spring Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony under Robert Spano; Carmina Burana
with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Charles Dutoit; Mahler's Symphony
No. 8 with the New York Choral Society; at the Lanaudière Festival singing a selection of arias with
the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal under Jacques Lacombe broadcast on the CBC, and then later a concert of duets with Jennifer Larmore and Les Violins du Roy; and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Leonard Slatkin
at the Hollywood Bowl singing Mozart arias in Amadeus
Live, a performance of scenes from the Peter Shaffer play.
Mary was born in Connecticut and raised in New Jersey. She received
her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University, where she studied with Kathleen Kaun. She earned her
Master’s Degree in Music at the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied with Mignon Dunn, and still returns there
frequently to give Master Classes. In 2006, she was
named one of four Outstanding Young Texas Exes by the University.
Mary works with a variety of leading teachers and coaches, including Renata Scotto, Rita Shane, Hank Hammett, Thomas Muraco, Dale Dietert, William Tracy, and Ron Raines, among others.