DIANA SOVIERO

Diana Soviero is one of the most recognized American opera singers of the twentieth century. More than merely a vocalist, Ms. Soviero was a singing actress who lived her roles intensely on the stage. As her lyric soprano voice blossomed into a spinto with vivid colors, Ms. Soviero became   a compelling interpreter of the Verismo repertoire. She created a gallery of unforgettable operatic portraits in performances at leading international opera houses including Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Royal Opera Covent Garden, Vienna Staatsoper, Théâtre national de l’Opéra de Paris, Opéra de Paris Bastille, Hamburg Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Chicago Lyric Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and San Francisco Opera.

Opera Magazine proclaimed Ms. Soviero as “One of the world’s great singing actresses.” Guided by her husband, stage director Bernard Uzan, she mastered the vocal and acting skills required to make roles come alive on the operatic stage. She is particularly renowned for her interpretations of Puccini’s heroines, including Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterly, Mimi and Musetta in La Bohème, Liu in Turandot, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, and the title roles in Tosca, Manon Lescaut, and Suor Angelica. She is also esteemed for her work in the French repertoire, having sung such roles as Marquerite in Faust, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette and the title role in Manon. Other critically acclaimed leading roles include Violetta in La Traviata, Nedda in I Pagliacci, Margherita in Mefistofele, and Maddalena in Andrea Chenier. Her poignant death scenes remain indelibly imprinted in the memory of all who saw her in roles such as Fedora, Suor Angelica, and Adriana Lecouvreur. Her final stage appearance was as Mrs. Desrochers in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking at Baltimore Opera.

Ms. Soviero recorded the definitive album Verismo, on Analekta Recordings, with l’Orchestre de l’Opéra de Montréal, conducted by Joseph Rescigno. Verismo includes standard Verismo arias such as Madama Butterfly and Cavalleria Rusticana to lesser known works including Leoncavallo’s Zaza and Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur. She was also apart of the compilation Telarc recordings Divine Sopranos and Classics of the Silver Screen, performing various signature repertoire including “Un bel di vedremo” from Madama Butterfly, “O mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicchi, and “Ebben?… Ne andrò lontana” from La Wally, with Erich Kunzel conducting the Cincinnati Pops. In addition, Ms. Soviero performed Madame Raquin in the world premiere of Tobias Picker’s Thérèse Raquin, which was recorded live with the Dallas Opera, and released on the Chandos label.

Recently, Ms. Soviero has dedicated herself to teaching young singers with the same passion that characterized her singing and acting career. She has taught many of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists, giving both private lessons in her Manhattan Studio as well as private/public Master Classes across the country.  She frequently conducts Master Classes with prestigious companies and festivals such as Glimmerglass Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Montreal Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Palm Beach Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Tampa, institutes and conservatories such as Academy of Vocal Arts, the Mannes School in Manhattan, El Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico, The VOICExperience with Sherrill Milnes, The Israeli Institute, and universities throughout the United States, including the University of Hawaii in conjunction with Hawaii Opera Theater, the University of Wisconsin,  Université de Montréal, Lawrence University, University of Missouri at Kansas, among many others.

She was the Director of the Young Artist Studio at Florida Grand Opera and has been a yearly participant in Joan Dornemann’s International Voice Program in France, Israel, Canada, Virginia, and Puerto Rico.  In addition, she has been an annual judge for the Metropolitan National Council Auditions and the Richard Tucker Competition, and has participated in the MET broadcasts as a panelist on various issues.

In June of 2011, she was awarded the V.E.R.A (Voice Education Research Award) Award from The Voice Foundation, hailed as a Master Teacher and is now an official member of the board of directors.  In September, 2012 she received A Lifetime Achievement Award from The Giulio Gari Foundation.

Ms. Soviero’s Master Classes focus on vocal technique and interpretation.

To schedule Ms. Soviero for a Master Class or for a private voice lesson or consultation, please contact info@uzanartists.com.

BERNARD UZAN

Bernard Uzan’s extensive background in the arts includes success as a general director, artistic director, stage director, designer, librettist, actor, artist manager, and most recently a published novelist. As a director and a producer his productions have appeared on the stages of 100 opera companies in North America, France, Italy, Monte Carlo, Switzerland, Germany, and South America with more than 375 productions.

He served as General and Artistic Director of L’Opera de Montreal from 1988 to 2002. Through his dedication to nurturing young artists, he expanded the then recently founded young artist development program, The Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal. In the 1989–1990 season, the Atelier lyrique launched to introduce young audiences to the opera, in association with the Opéra de Montréal and, for a number of program years with the Montréal Opera Guild, also created by Mr. Uzan that year. He also briefly served as General and Artistic Director of the Tulsa Opera, as well as the director of the Young Artists program for the Florida Grand Opera.

Mr. Uzan gives Master Classes to both young and renowned artists.  His Master Classes focuses on role preparation, interpretation, and dramaturgy.

To schedule Mr. Uzan for a Master Class, please contact info@uzanartists.com.

VANESSA UZAN

Vanessa Uzan has established herself as one of the most sought after managers in the operatic field. Over the past eight years as an Artists’ Manager, she has been invited by numerous opera companies to work with various Resident and Young Artists Programs, by universities and conservatories to give master classes and seminars to students in their vocal programs, has served as a judge for several vocal competitions, and has been a panelist for many artist/manager discussion groups at classical conventions around the United States.

Ms. Uzan’s Master Class and Seminars on Operatic Career Development give young artists the guidance and information needed to approach agents, get started in the opera business, and other aspects of business and management in the opera world.

Topics include creating striking promotional packages, how to obtain auditions and how to audition effectively, vocal competitions, attaining representation, and the value of young artist programs.  In addition, career advice for already professional artists including how to use the internet, new media, and other technological means to get your name out there, understanding contracts and terminology to protect oneself, jobs: what they are and what they pay, defining your “marketability” and finding your repertoire niche, publicists, and building valuable industry relationships.

To schedule Ms. Uzan for a Master Class, please contact info@uzanartists.com.

ROSA MERCEDES

Born in Barcelona, Spain, Rosa Mercedes is an internationally acclaimed dancer and choreographer who Jennifer Dunning of The New York Times calls “sexy and hypnotically precise”, and the Coral Gables Gazette calls “incomparable”. Featured by dance companies, dance festivals and symphony orchestras throughout the United States and Europe, her extensive work in opera has been seen on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Seattle Opera, Atlanta Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Baltimore Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Florentine Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Dallas Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Washington Summer Opera, Tulsa Opera, Palm Beach Opera and many others, alongside such greats as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Agnes Baltsa, Renata Scotto, Denyse Graves, Julius Rudel, Marco Armiliato and James Levine in repertoire that includes Salome, Samson et Dalila, Aida, La Traviata, Carmen, The Magic Flute, Faust, Rigoletto, Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Giovanni, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Turandot, Don Quichotte, Il Trovatore, The Bartered Bride, La Boheme, Cosi fan Tutte, Hansel & Gretel, Un Ballo in Maschera, The Merry Widow, La Gioconda, Fledermaus, Coronazione di Poppea and Romeo et Juliette.

Rosa Mercedes offers private coaching sessions to established, professional singers designed to give them a greater physical vocabulary specific to roles such as Carmen, Escamillo, Salome, Butterfly, Olympia, Dulcinea (Don Quichotte), Dalila and any role that has particular movement needs. In addition to her expertise in many styles of dance, she has become one of the most sought-after coaches for singers preparing roles that require acquiring the technique, the flavor and the beauty of Spanish dance and flamenco. Diario las Americas hailed her as “one of the most authentically Spanish artists I have seen, both for her movement and for her domination of the dance”, and Dance Magazine has praised her “virtuoso castanet work”.

In addition to being much sought after as a choreographer on the world’s leading opera stages, Rosa Mercedes teaches master classes and workshops in movement for singers, including recently for the young artist programs of the Florida Grand Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Tulsa Opera, Sarasota Opera, Aspen Music Festival and the New World School of the Arts. Through her movement for singer classes, Rosa Mercedes specializes in helping young singers to develop physical freedom and expressivity that is at the core of the creation of complete characters.

Ms. Mercedes serves on several grant panels and is a dance panelist and master teacher for the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.

To schedule Ms. Mercedes for a Master Class, please contact info@uzanartists.com.