Carole Farley (born November 29, 1946) is an American soprano and a principal singer at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

Early life and education

Farley was born in

Le Mars, Iowa Le Mars is a city and the county seat of Plymouth County, Iowa, United States. It is located on the Floyd River northeast of Sioux City. The population was 10,571 at the time of the 2020 census. Le Mars is located within America Township an ...

on November 29, 1946. She began her vocal training with Dorothy Barnes in

Moscow, Idaho Moscow ( ) is a city and the county seat of Latah County, Idaho. Located in the North Central Idaho, North Central region of the state along the border with Washington (state), Washington, it had a population of 25,435 at the 2020 United States ...

. She graduated from

Indiana University School of Music The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...

in Bloomington with a bachelor's degree in music in 1968. There she studied singing with William Shriner. She was awarded a Fulbright scholarship and studied at the Hochschule für Musik in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

in 1968-1969 under Marianne Schech. She later studied singing privately in New York City with Cornelius Reid. She is married to conductor José Serebrier.

Career

Farley began her performance career in 1968, and that year performed

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

's '' Four Last Songs'' with the Cleveland Philharmonic with her husband conducting. In 1969, she made her New York concert debut year at The Town Hall performing

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

song cycle A song cycle () is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in sequence, as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarely a combinat ...

'' Les Illuminations''. That same year she made her opera debut as Formica in Peter Ronnefeld's ''Die Ameise'' at the Linz State Theatre in Germany, and performed the role of Magda Sorel in Spain's first production of

Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian-American composer, libretto, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American ...

's ''

The Consul ''The Consul'' is an opera in three acts with music and libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, his first full-length opera. Performance history Its first performance was on March 1, 1950, at the Shubert Theatre in Philadelphia with Patricia Neway as t ...

'' in Madrid under the composer's direction. She sang leading roles at both La Monnaie and the

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) () is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales. WNO gave its first performances in 1946. The company began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its early days, the ...

in 1971 and 1972 and was resident artist at the

Cologne Opera The Cologne Opera (German language, German: Oper der Stadt Köln or Oper Köln) refers to both the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and its resident opera company. History of the company From the mid 18th century, opera was performed in the ...

from 1972-1975. In 1975, Farley made her debut with the

in a matinee performance as Mimi in ''

La bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...

''. In 1977, she sang the title role in the Metropolitan Opera's premiere of ''

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

''. In the late 1970s and 1980s, she was known for singing demanding roles such as Lulu and the solo role in Poulenc's '' La voix humaine''. Farley has been collaborating in recent years with contemporary American classical composers including

Ned Rorem Ned Miller Rorem (October 23, 1923 – November 18, 2022) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and a writer. Best known for his art songs, which number over 500, Rorem was considered the leading American of his time writing i ...

, William Bolcom, and Lowell Liebermann on multiple concert and recording projects.

Discography and videography

*DVD. Poulenc's '' La voix humaine'' and Menotti's '' The Telephone.'' Scottish Chamber Orchestra, dir. José Serebrier. Decca Music Group 1992, licensed to VAI 2006.

References

External links

*
Interview with Carole Farley
March 16, 1998 {{DEFAULTSORT:Farley, Carole 1946 births Living people 20th-century American women opera singers 21st-century American women opera singers American operatic sopranos People from Le Mars, Iowa Jacobs School of Music alumni Singers from Iowa University of Music and Theatre Munich alumni Classical musicians from Iowa