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Megan Marie Hart

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For the American romantic fiction writer, see Megan Hart.

Megan Marie Hart
Megan Marie Hart (2008)
Born1983 (age 40–41)
Education
OccupationOperatic soprano
Websitewww.meganmariehart.com

Megan Marie Hart (born 1983) is an American operatic soprano from Eugene, Oregon, performing in leading operatic roles and concerts in America and Europe.

Life and Education

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Hart was born in Santa Monica, California, and grew up in Eugene, Oregon, after the age of six.[1] Father Dale Hart, a metallurgist, and mother Claudia Carol Hart (née Chambers) bought a farm in Oregon in the early 1990s,[2] where he was co-owner of an organic juice company.[3] Hart has been interested in playing the piano since she was three, and began taking lessons at age nine. In addition, she played the violin for five years, and then started choral singing.[4] In 1999, Hart attended the Oregon Bach Festival's Youth Choral Academy for the first time,[5] led by Anton Armstrong and Helmuth Rilling.[6] Inspired by Rilling,[7] Hart decided to become a professional singer instead of a pianist.[5] Starting in 2001, Hart took professional singing lessons with voice teacher Beverly Park, who encouraged her to study with Richard Miller at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.[5] In 2005, Hart received her Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory.[1] In the summer of 2005, Hart was in the Gerdine Young Artists program with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, as well as a young artist at Opera North.[8] In October 2005, Hart first met Marilyn Horne at Horne's master class in Oberlin.[9] Hart received her Master of Music degree in Opera Theater from Oberlin Conservatory in 2006,[1][10] and was awarded the Faustina Hurlbutt Prize, for an outstanding graduating student in cello, piano, violin, or voice.[11] She received a Professional Studies Certificate (PS) from Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Mignon Dunn.[12] She was a participant in Seattle Opera's Young Artist program from 2007 to 2010,[13] where she studied with Jane Eaglen,[14][15] and sang Tytania in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Lauretta and Nella in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi,[16] and Tatyana in Tatyana's Letter, Peter Kazaras' adaptation of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin.[17] In 2010 Hart again studied with Marilyn Horne, at the Music Academy of the West, where she won the Marilyn Horne Song Competition.[18] Horne has since remained Hart's teacher.[9]

Career

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Opera

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Hart's operatic repertoire spans Baroque roles such as Handel's Alcina,[19] and Almirena in his Rinaldo,[20] leading ladies in Mozart operas such as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro,[21] Donna Anna in Don Giovanni,[22][23][24] and Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte.[25] She appeared in roles from the 20th century, such as Lady Billows in Britten's Albert Herring,[26] Elle in Poulenc's La voix humaine[27][28] and Blanche in his Dialogues of the Carmelites.[29] She has performed lirico-spinto roles such as the title roles in Aida, Luisa Miller, Madama Butterfly and Tosca, as well as Chrysothemis in Elektra, Gilda in Rigoletto, Mimì in La bohème, and Tatyana in Eugene Onegin.[1][30]

In 2010, a production of Alcina with Bourbon Baroque was staged for a TV recording, that has since repeatedly been aired.[19]

In 2015, Hart joined the ensemble of the Landestheater Detmold, Germany.[7] Here she returned to the role of the woman ("Elle") in La voix humaine in an all female production, staged by Karin Kotzbauer, conducted by Sachie Mallet, in set and costumes by Tatiana Tarwitz, and with dramaturge Elizabeth Wirtz.[28]

Hart at the Theaterpreis ceremony in 2019.

In 2018, Hart appeared as Tosca for the first time. The production was well received by critics and audience.[31] Two awards Detmolder Theaterring were bestowed, for best direction to Ernö Weil [de], and for best singer to Hart.[32][33] Hart received her second Theaterring for her debut in the role of Luisa Miller in the following year.[34][35] Hart left Detmold in 2020 to join the ensemble of the Staatstheater Darmstadt,[36] where she returned to the roles of Mimì in La bohème and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, and gave her role debuts as Elsa in Wagner's Lohengrin, Liù in Puccini's Turandot and Madeleine de Faublas in Abraham's operetta Ball im Savoy.[37][38] Hart was invited back as a guest to the Landestheater Detmold in 2022 for her debut as Cio-Cio-San in Puccini's Madama Butterfly. The production was tenor Zoran Todorovich's debut as director, and conductor Per-Otto Johansson's premiere as Generalmusikdirektor (GMD).[39] In 2023 Hart sang the role of Tatyana in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin for the first time in the original Russian at the Staatstheater Darmstadt.[40] She had previously performed the role in English on tour with the Seattle Young Artists, and with the Yakima Symphony at the Capitol Theatre.[17][41]

Concerts

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Megan Marie Hart in concert with Bourbon Baroque

In 2008 Hart performed with the early music ensemble Bourbon Baroque.[42] The same year, she made her first TV appearance as a professional singer as the soprano soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Seattle Symphony in a concert for the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu.[43][12] With the same orchestra she sang in a Holiday Pops concert conducted by Marvin Hamlisch, where she premiered his song Chanukah Lights, an original composition written for the occasion.[44] In 2009 she performed art songs composed by Lazar Weiner, a survivor of the Holocaust, with Music of Remembrance,[45] and Tatyana in concert performances of Eugen Onegin.[41] In September 2010 she sang Marie in excerpts from Rufus Wainwright's Prima Donna alongside Janis Kelly as Régine with the Oregon Symphony under Carlos Kalmar.[46] Wainwright's concert at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall was the opening event of the Time-Based Art Festival, and the US premiere of music from his opera.[47] In November 2010 Hart sang the soprano solo in Shostakovich's song cycle From Jewish Folk Poetry with Music of Remembrance.[48]

Hart made her Carnegie Hall debut with art songs by Franz Liszt in January 2012.[49] She returned in March of the same year to perform in the winners concert of the Liederkranz Foundation competition, where she had won first place in the Lieder category.[50][51] In the summer of 2012, Hart sang in concerts with conductor Eve Queler, who she previously had worked with in a production of Le nozze di Figaro at Oberlin.[52][53][54] In 2013 and 2015 Hart performed arias in concerts with orchestras in Germany.[55][56] In 2016, she sang the soprano solo in Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah.[57] In autumn 2017, Hart sang the soprano solo in Mahler's Resurrection Symphony.[58][59] Hart performed Mozart's concert aria "Misera, dove son? (KV 369)" with GMD Lutz Rademacher [de] in her last concert as Landestheater Detmold ensemble member in June 2020,[60] and sang her first concert as ensemble member of the Staatstheater Darmstadt with GMD Daniel Cohen in September 2020.[61]

Hart's 2021 recital Famous Musicians of Jewish Origin with pianist Giacomo Marignani was the official opening event of the Darmstadt celebrations in the nationwide festival year 1700 Jahre jüdisches Leben in Deutschland [de] commemorating the first documented mention of Jewish communities in the territory of present-day Germany.[62][63] In several sold out performances at the Staatstheater and the Darmstadt Synagogue,[64] she sang Simon Sargon's Shema: 5 Poems of Primo Levi, Korngold's Drei Lieder, Op. 22, Viktor Ullmann's Drei Sonette aus dem Portugiesischen, Op. 29, and the grand opera arias "Il va venir" from Halévy's La Juive, "Pourquoi suis-je venue" from Saint-Saëns' Proserpine and "Robert, toi que j'aime" from Meyerbeer's Robert le diable.[65]

Awards and recognition

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Obens, Detlef (October 5, 2019). "Megan Marie Hart in the Opernmagazin Portrait" (PDF). opernmagazin.de. Das Opernmagazin. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019. Megan Marie Hart was born in Santa Monica, in California, the "golden state". She lived there until the age of six; that's when her parents moved with her to Eugene in the US State of Oregon.
  2. ^ Eugene Weekly (June 3, 2021). 2021-06-03 Eugene Weekly. p. 4. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  3. ^ Mosley, Joe (April 13, 2005). "Genesis Juice regroups". The Montana Standard. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  4. ^ LaDuke, Will (December 18, 2020). "Megan Marie Hart". Active Culture. Episode 241. 19 minutes in. Riverwest Radio. Retrieved March 3, 2021. I had been attempting to play the piano since I was three. […] I was very interested in and attracted to the piano. […] And then by the time I was nine, I was like: 'I wanna study piano.' And that's when I started.
  5. ^ a b c Hart, Megan. "Community | In Opera at Oberlin". singbach.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2002. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  6. ^ "About YCA". singbach.com. Archived from the original on June 9, 2002. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Luetgebrune, Barbara (August 8, 2015). "Neu am Landestheater: Sopranistin Megan Marie Hart". Lippische Landes-Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on November 6, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  8. ^ "Career Bridges » 2007 Winners". careerbridges.org. May 21, 2012. Archived from the original on January 4, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Oberlin Conservatory Magazine :: 2006". Oberlin Conservatory Magazine. Archived from the original on August 23, 2017. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  10. ^ "Oberlin Conservatory Magazine :: 2005". Oberlin Conservatory Magazine. Archived from the original on January 3, 2006. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
  11. ^ Oberlin College (2006). Oberlin College Commencement Exercises 2006. Oberlin College Library. Oberlin College. p. 27. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  12. ^ a b "Center Stage: Megan Hart, Soprano". Classical Singer. David Wood. June 1, 2009. p. 5. Archived from the original on May 8, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  13. ^ "Megan Hart | Seattle Opera – 50th Anniversary". Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  14. ^ "Megan Marie Hart | Staatstheater Darmstadt". staatstheater-darmstadt.de. Archived from the original on August 9, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  15. ^ "Soprano named Opera instructor". Seattle Times. October 30, 2006. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021.
  16. ^ Seattle Opera (March 31, 2010). "A chat With Megan Hart". Seattle Opera. Archived from the original on November 21, 2012. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  17. ^ a b Cullen, Hilda (October 13, 2008). "Seattle Performances added to 2008/09 Young Artists Fall Tour". Seattle Opera. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  18. ^ a b Dougherty, Tim (October 27, 2010). "Music Academy Announces Winners of Marilyn Horne Song Competition". Noozhawk. Archived from the original on December 12, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  19. ^ a b "Bourbon Baroque: Alcina". KET. Archived from the original on February 26, 2015. Retrieved December 4, 2018.
  20. ^ MacMillian, Kyle (July 13, 2009). "A spellbinding staging of "Rinaldo"". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on November 8, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  21. ^ Sakir, Michael (March 18, 2005). "Figaro brilliantly performed". The Oberlin Review. pp. 10, 13. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  22. ^ Swed, Mark (August 7, 2010). "Opera review: 'Don Giovanni' among the revelers in Santa Barbara". LA Times Blogs – Culture Monster. Archived from the original on November 27, 2016. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  23. ^ McKinnon, Arlo (August 2011). "In Review: Don Giovanni, Bronx Opera, 4/13/11". Opera News. Vol. 76, no. 2.
  24. ^ "2014: Don Giovanni · Zomeropera". zomeropera.be. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  25. ^ Knaup, Hermann. "Parabel über die Verführbarkeit". Westfalen-Blatt (in German). Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  26. ^ "Oberlin Conservatory Magazine : Of Note : Nights at the Opera". Oberlin Conservatory Magazine. Archived from the original on January 3, 2006. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  27. ^ "La voix humaine (Francis Poulenc)". Opera Musica. Archived from the original on December 13, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  28. ^ a b Franz-Nevermann, Ilse (June 3, 2016). "Landestheater zeigt "La voix humaine" als Mono-Oper". Lippische Landes-Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on November 26, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  29. ^ Yan, Sophia (November 18, 2005). "Opera 'Dialogues of the Carmelites' Hits High Notes". The Oberlin Review. pp. 11, 15. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  30. ^ Operabase
  31. ^ Gahre, Jürgen (June 2018). "Detmold Tosca". Das Opernglas (in German). pp. 51, 52.
  32. ^ "Das sind die nominierten Kandidaten aus der Kategorie Musiktheater / Theaterpreis 2018". Lippische Landes-Zeitung (in German). June 15, 2018. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  33. ^ a b Luetgebrune, Barbara (June 15, 2018). "Vier neue Theaterring-Träger und ein Abschied aus Detmold / Detmold". Lippische Landes-Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  34. ^ Mauß, Stefan (June 2019). "Detmold Luisa Miller". Das Opernglas (in German).
  35. ^ a b Koch, Sven (June 23, 2019). "Theaterpreis: Fünf Ringe für die Publikumslieblinge". Lippische Landes-Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on June 23, 2019. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  36. ^ Luetgebrune, Barbara (July 3, 2020). "Megan Marie Hart nimmt Abschied von Detmold, der "Stadt wie aus einem Märchen"". Lippische Landes-Zeitung (in German). Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  37. ^ "Landestheater Detmold – Megan Marie Hart". landestheater-detmold.de. Archived from the original on August 28, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  38. ^ "Lohengrin, Wagner, Richard | Staatstheater Darmstadt". Operabase. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  39. ^ Obens, Detlef (September 4, 2022). "Berührend, ergreifend, überzeugend: "Madama Butterfly" am Landestheater Detmold" [Touching, moving, convincing: "Madama Butterfly" at the Landestheater Detmold]. opernmagazin.de (in German). Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  40. ^ Wolff, Thomas (April 26, 2023). "Premiere für "Eugen Onegin": Starkes Opernpaar in Darmstadt" [Premiere for "Eugene Onegin": Strong opera couple in Darmstadt]. echo-online.de (in German). Darmstädter Echo. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  41. ^ a b Schwartz, Justina (April 11, 2009). "Letter from Yakima". seattleoperablog.com. Seattle Opera. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  42. ^ "Baroque soiree includes dancer". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. September 19, 2008. p. W19.
  43. ^ Bargreen, Melinda (April 9, 2008). "Seattle Symphony Orchestra in search of tenors and basses for "Ode to Joy" Seeds of Compassion concert". Archived from the original on November 29, 2018. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  44. ^ Keogh, Tom (December 5, 2008). "Concert review: Marvin Hamlisch brings warmth — and snow! — to Benaroya". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  45. ^ "Fall Concert: Cantillations". musicofremembrance.org. November 9, 2009. Archived from the original on March 17, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  46. ^ Noble, Charles (September 10, 2010). "Bending Genres or Just Producing Good Art?". nobleviola.com. Retrieved March 31, 2023.
  47. ^ Harada, Jenny (August 27, 2010). "Genre-hopping musician kicks of Portland art fest". The Bulletin : Go! Magazin. p. 21. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  48. ^ "The Dybbuk Comes Dancing Into MOR's Fall Concert". musicofremembrance.org. September 22, 2010. Archived from the original on March 18, 2014. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  49. ^ "The Song Continues... Duo Recital". carnegiehall.org. January 16, 2012. Archived from the original on January 16, 2012. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  50. ^ Zahr, Oussama. "Opera News – OperaWatch". Opera News. Vol. 76, no. 10. Archived from the original on April 21, 2012. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  51. ^ a b "52nd Annual Awards Concert" (PDF). www.liederkranzny.org. Liederkranz of the City of New York. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  52. ^ "The 18th Annual Bel Canto Opera Brings Big City Voices to the Hilltowns". thewhitechurch.org. July 23, 2012. Archived from the original on December 13, 2018. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  53. ^ meche (June 4, 2014). "Eve Queler & Seven Emerging Artists". vocedimeche.reviews. Archived from the original on December 13, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  54. ^ Janas, Marci (March 9, 2005). "Eve Queler conducts Mozart's classic comedy Le nozze di Figaro". oberlin.edu. Archived from the original on October 18, 2005. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  55. ^ "An der schönen blauen Donau". www.operamusica.com. September 13, 2013. Archived from the original on December 13, 2018. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  56. ^ "Festliche Opern Gala". www.operamusica.com. November 14, 2015. Archived from the original on December 13, 2018. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  57. ^ Colell, Barbara (November 26, 2016). "Überwältigend dramatisch". www.lippe-aktuell.de (in German). Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  58. ^ Krügler, Thomas (October 31, 2017). "Bombastisch, gigantisch, phänomenal". Lippische Landes-Zeitung (in German). p. 33.
  59. ^ Koch, Sven (September 26, 2017). "Dieses musikalische Mammutwerk soll erstmals der Region präsentiert werden". Lippische Landes-Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  60. ^ Wasa, G. "Endlich: Wieder live!". gwasa.de (in German). Archived from the original on June 16, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  61. ^ "Büchner-Platz-Konzert: Komm ins offene!". staatstheater-darmstadt.de (in German). Archived from the original on December 4, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  62. ^ "100 Tage 1700 Jahre – Jüdisches Leben in Darmstadt" (PDF). darmstadt.de (in German). City of Darmstadt. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 14, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  63. ^ "1700 years of Jewish life in Germany". Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community. Archived from the original on January 16, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  64. ^ Jüdische Gemeinde Darmstadt (October 20, 2021). "Ausverkauft – Famous Musicians of Jewish Origin – Liederabend mit Megan Marie Hart und Giacomo Marignani". stayhappening.com (in German). Archived from the original on August 28, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  65. ^ "Liedgut – Famous Musicians of Jewish Origin". staatstheater-darmstadt.de (in German). Staatstheater Darmstadt. 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 17, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
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