Anne-Carolyn Bird

Last fall, Anne Carolyn returned to the MET to sing Giannetta in the Opening Night Gala Production of Bartlett Sher’s new L’elisir d’amore, a role which she will reprise again in 2014. Ms. Bird also appears in numerous other productions at the famed house this season, including Shostakovich’s The Nose, Die Frau ohne Schatten, and The Enchanted Island. Ms. Bird first made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the 2006-2007 Season, singing two roles in a new production of Il Trittico, and has since returned in performances as Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro, Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos, Pousette in Manon, and in Boris Godunov and Don Carlo on tour in Japan, among other productions.

Noted engagements from the past few seasons include 1^st Soprano in Philip Glass’ Kepler with the Spoleto Festival USA; Beatrice in John Musto’s The Inspector at the Wolf Trap Opera; a debut as the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor with Musica Viva Hong Kong; Yum-Yum in The Mikado at Arizona Opera; Micaëla in Carmen with Opera Carolina; Marguerite in Faust and Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Dayton Opera, Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Nashville Opera, and Cunegonde in Candide with Wolf Trap Opera and the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Stephen Lord and starring Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander as Pangloss.  In addition, she saw performances of her signature role of Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro for Virginia Opera, Opera Carolina, Nashville Opera, Opera Columbus, and Opera Grand Rapids.

Additional performances have included Celia in John Musto’s Grammy-nominated comedic masterpiece Volpone at the Wolf Trap Opera, and Noémie in Laurent Pelly’s highly-acclaimed production of Cendrillon at Santa Fe Opera. She has been seen in staged and concert versions of Osvaldo Golijov’s opera Ainadamar and can be heard on the Grammy award-winning recording.

In concert, recent engagements have included Handel’s Messiah with the Dayton Philharmonic, a concert with the New York Festival of Song at the Gardner Museum in D.C. and at Merkin Hall in New York; the Mozart Requiem with MidAmerica Productions at Carnegie Hall; Pierrot Lunaire with the Spoleto Festival USA; Parasha in Marvra with the American Symphony Orchestra; Gotham Chamber Opera’s Gala concert featuring Nico Muhly; her Carnegie Hall debut in Evan Chamber’s oratorio The Old Burying Ground; an All-American concert at Merkin Hall with New York Festival of Song, CPE Bach’s Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu with Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music; A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Cleveland Orchestra; “An Evening of Musical Shakespeare” with the Atlanta Symphony, both conducted by Nicholas McGegan; as well as Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Magnificat with Portland Baroque Orchestra. In 2006, she toured internationally with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to perform Golijov’s La Pasion de segun San Marcos (“luminous” -The New York Times).

The Bhakti Project, Ms. Bird’s on-going recital project with Ms. Dueck, included a recent world premiere: Hillula by Judd Greenstein. Steve Smith from Time Out New York wrote of the performance: “Bird proved herself a singer capable of … getting under the skin of a piece, touching its inner passions and revealing them to a listener.” Ms. Bird reprised Hillula with the Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO as part of the Archipelago music series.  She also performed three additional recital collaborations with pianist Jocelyn Dueck, including one at her alma mater, the University of Georgia.

Ms. Bird has been a recipient of grants and awards from many organizations, including the Sullivan Foundation (2008), the Santa Fe Opera, the Oratorio Society of New York, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Twice a Young Artist with the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program for Singers and twice a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, she holds degrees from New England Conservatory and the University of Georgia. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband, bass-baritone Matthew Burns and their son, Henry.