Stella Zambalis (born July 1957) is an American

spinto soprano A spinto soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that has the limpidity and easy high notes of a lyric soprano, yet can be "pushed" on to achieve dramatic climaxes without strain. This type of voice may also possess a somewhat darker timbre tha ...

born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. She has been called one of the best sopranos in the world today.

Education and early career

Zambalis graduated from

Clearwater High School Clearwater High School (CHS) is a four-year public high school located in Clearwater, Florida, United States. It is part of the Pinellas County School System. The school mascot is a tornado, therefore students and faculty are known as the ''Tor ...

in 1975. She began her studies with Greek

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

Elena Nikolaidi Elena Nikolaidi (; June 15, 1909 – November 14, 2002) was a Greek-American opera singer and teacher. She sang leading contralto and mezzosoprano roles with major opera companies worldwide and made numerous recordings. Her birth year is give ...

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. Zambalis moved to Houston along with Nikolaidi where she became a member of the

Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera (HGO) is an American opera company located in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1955 by German-born impresario Walter Herbert and three local Houstonians,Giesberg, Robert I., Carl Cunningham, and Alan Rich. ''Houston Grand Opera at ...

young artist program. She was the 1983 winner of the

Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition (formerly the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions) is an annual singing competition sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera. Established in 1954, its purpose is to discover, assist ...

. She began her career as a mezzo-soprano and switched to soprano in the mid 1990s.

Recordings

She can be heard on the 1984

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

recording of ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

'', 1992 Metropolitan Opera recording of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's ''

Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna ...

'' (Levine), Tchaikovsky's ''Romeo and Juliet: Overture Fantasy'' for

Bridge Records Bridge Records is an independent record label that specializes in classical music located in New Rochelle, New York. History A classical guitarist, David Starobin recorded the Boccherini Guitar Quintet in E minor in the 1970s. This was his firs ...

and on Dvorak's three complete solo song cycles for the Opus record label.

On video

*Seattle Opera's ''War and Peace'' *1992 Metropolitan Opera's ''Marriage of Figaro'', Mozart,

James Levine James Lawrence Levine ( ; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March ...

Conducting *PBS's The Making of ''West Side Story''

Roles

She created the role of the stepmother in Robert Moran's and

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

' '' The Juniper Tree'' and reprised the role in its New York City debut April 2007 at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

. In January 2007 she debuted as Bellini's

Norma (opera) ''Norma'' () is a ''tragedia lirica'' or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after the play ''Norma, ou L'infanticide'' (''Norma, or The Infanticide'') by Alexandre Soumet. It was first produced at La Scala in ...

for Mercury Opera In Rochester NY. She frequently performs the role of Nedda in I Pagliacci as well as all of the Puccini heroines. *Mimi in ''La Bohème'', Deutsche Oper Berlin/New York City Opera/Opera Company of Philadelphia/Baltimore Opera/Opera Columbus/Kentucky Opera/Arizona Opera/Michigan Opera/Opera Pacific/Tulsa Opera/Arkansas Symphony *Floria Tosca in ''Tosca'', Columbus (debut)/Tacoma Opera/Fargo Morehead/Chattanooga Symph & Opera/Arkansas Symphony/others *Cherubino (Created) in John Corigliano's ''The Ghosts of Versailles'', Metropolitan Opera *Rosina in ''Il Barbiere di Siviglia'', New York City Opera/Deutsche Oper Berlin/Indianapolis/Opera Theater of Saint Louis/others (at least 23 total productions) *Magda in ''La Rondine'', New York City Opera *The Three Heroines in ''Les Contes d’Hoffmann'', Opera Columbus/New York City Opera/Chautauqua Opera/Knoxville Opera *Giulietta in ''Les Contes d’Hoffmann'', Tulsa Opera *Micaela in ''Carmen'', New York City Opera/Michigan Opera/Minnesota Opera/Tulsa Opera *Zerlina in ''Don Giovanni'', Houston Grand Opera/Opera Omaha/Indianapolis Opera *Dorabella in ''Cosi fan Tutte'', Houston Grand Opera/Seattle Opera *Musetta in ''La Bohème'', Houston Grand Opera *Nedda in ''I Pagliacci'', Houston Grand Opera/Opera Co. of Philadelphia/Portland Opera/Arizona Opera/New Orleans Opera *Sophie in Prokofieff's ''War and Peace'', Seattle Opera *Norma in ''Norma'', Mercury Opera Rochester *Adalgisa in ''Norma'', Florida Grand Opera/Opera Hamilton *Violetta in ''La Traviata'', Austin Lyric Opera *Countess in ''Le Nozze di Figaro'', Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy/Austin Lyric Opera/Opera Hamilton/San Antonio Symphony *Angelina in ''La Cenerentola'', Florentine Opera *Liu in ''Turandot'', Indianapolis Opera/Nashville Opera/Florentine Opera/Tulsa Opera/Chattanooga *Hermia in ''A Midsummer Night’s Dream'', Minnesota Opera/Kentucky Opera *Donna Elvira in ''Don Giovanni'', Kentucky Opera/Indianapolis Opera *Fiordiligi in ''Cosi fan Tutte'', Kentucky Opera *Pamina in ''The Magic Flute'', Opera Company of Philadelphia *Rosalinda in ''Die Fledermaus'', Opera Company of Philadelphia/Houston Grand Opera/Tacoma Opera/Arizona Opera *Donna Elvira in ''Don Giovanni'', Opera Company of Philadelphia/Chattanooga Opera/Opera Omaha *Donna Anna in ''Don Giovanni'', Knoxville Opera/Chattanooga/ *"Soprano" in ''Carmina Burana'', Portland Opera *Marguerite in ''Faust'', Portland Opera *double bill of ''Pagliacci'' and ''Carmina Burana'', Opera Omaha *''Trouble in Tahiti'', La Scala *Donna Anna in ''Don Giovanni'', Chattanooga Symphony and Opera *Inez in ''Maria Padilla'', Opera Omaha *The Stepmother (created) in Philip Glass and Robert Moran's ''The Juniper Tree'', Opera Omaha *Euridice in Gluck's ''Orfeo ed Euridice'', Indianapolis Opera *Giovanna Seymour in ''Anna Bolena'', Indianapolis Opera *Hanna in ''The Merry Widow'', Indianapolis Opera/San Antonio Symphony *Violetta in ''La Traviata'', Austin Lyric/Madison Opera *Lucy Lockett in ''The Beggar's Opera'', Opera Theater of Saint Louis *''Angelina'', Opera Theater of Saint Louis *Tessa in ''The Gondoliers'', Opera Theater of Saint Louis *Valencienne in ''The Merry Widow'', Opera Theater of Saint Louis *Sara in ''Roberto Devereux'', Opera Orchestra of New York in Carnegie Hall *Walter in ''La Wally'', Opera Orchestra of New York in Carnegie Hall

Roles created

*Cherubino in ''The Ghosts of Versailles''

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 ...

John Corigliano John Paul Corigliano (born February 16, 1938) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. With over 100 compositions, he has won accolades including a Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy Awards, Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, and a ...

*The Stepmother in Philip Glass' and Robert Moran's ''The Juniper Tree'' (Reprised at Lincoln Center for New York Premier 2007) *The Woman in Robert Moran's ''Desert of Roses''

*The title role in the world premiere of ''Rachel'' for the Knoxville Opera, with additional performances in Nashville with Nashville Opera

Concert performances

*Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis", Santiago, Chile *Strauss' "Four Last Songs", Houston, Pittsburgh and San Francisco Ballets *Solo Quartet of Brahms' "Liebeslieder Waltzes with Mischa and Cipa Dichter", Houston Symphony *Soprano Soloist with the late Robert Shaw in Verdi's ''Requiem'' in New York with the Little Orchestra Society *Youngstown Symphony in the Mozart ''Requiem'' *Multiple appearances with the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra as guest soloist *Erie Symphony for a New Year's Day concert *Greenville Symphony in Verdi's ''Requiem'' *Houston Masterworks for Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9" and Vaughan Williams' "Benedicite" *Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy as soprano soloist in Menotti's ''Mass'' and his ''Cantata to St. Teresa of Avila: Muero, Porque no Muero'', which she also performed with the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin *Featured soloist under the baton of Raphael Frubech de Burgos in Rossini's ''Stabat Mater'' with the Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra in Berlin

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zambalis, Stella 1957 births Living people American operatic sopranos University of Houston alumni Florida State University alumni Winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Singers from Cleveland American operatic mezzo-sopranos 20th-century American women opera singers Classical musicians from Ohio Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women