Krista River, mezzo-soprano

Winner, 2004 Concert Artists Guild International Competition

Praised by The New York Times for possessing a “shimmering voice…with the virtuosity of a violinist and the expressivity of an actress,” mezzo-soprano Krista River demonstrates these distinctive qualities in all of her performances, whether it is on the operatic stage, in an art-song recital or in front of a symphony orchestra.  Ms. River is a winner of the 2004 Concert Artists Guild International Competition and is also a 2007 grant recipient from the Sullivan Foundation, whose goal is to identify talented young singers and help them develop professional careers.

Ms. River’s 2007-2008 season features several return engagements, most notably at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall where she gave her critically acclaimed debut recital in 2004. Ms. River appears with the North Carolina Symphony twice in 2007—first this summer, singing a pops program of British musical theater and then in September as Cherubino in a semi-staged production of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro.  This season also includes return performances with the Handel & Haydn Society in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and with the Harrisburg Symphony as soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

In the 2006-2007 season Ms. River made her debut with Opera Boston in the role of Annio in La clemenza di Tito, about which the Boston Herald said “…River offered perhaps the most purely delightful singing of the evening.”  Consistently lauded by audiences and critics alike, other recent roles include Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Opera Aperta (for which Opera News as praised her portrayal as “seductive and energetic”), the Mother in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors with the Santa Fe Symphony, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Crested Butte Music Festival, Nancy in Albert Herring with Red House Opera, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with Opera Southwest and Anna I in Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins with Intermezzo Opera.  She has also performed concert versions of Handel’s Orlando (Medoro) with Boston's Emmanuel Music and Berg’s Wozzeck (Margret) with the New England Philharmonic.

Orchestral engagements during the 2006-2007 season include Schubert’s Mass in E-flat with the North Carolina Symphony, Duruflé’s Requiem with the York Symphony and Messiah with the Charlotte Symphony.  Other recent orchestral performances include Dvorak’s Requiem with the Florida Orchestra, de Falla's El Amor Brujo with the Boston Symphony, Handel’s Israel in Egypt, Schumann’s Genoveva, Bach’s Magnificat and Christmas Oratorio with Emmanuel Music, Telemann’s St. Matthew Passion with the Pittsburgh Bach and Baroque Ensemble.

Krista River has performed chamber music as a guest artist at John Harbison’s Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, the Saco River Festival, and the Portland Chamber Music Festival in Maine.  A contemporary music advocate, Ms. River has given the world premieres of several new works by composers John H. Wallace, Toni Lester and Paul Preusser.  She created the role of Genevieve in Brian Hulse’s chamber opera The Game at the Kennedy Center, as part of their Millennium Stage series.

Krista River began her musical career as a cellist, earning her music degree at St. Olaf College.  She resides in Boston and is a regular soloist with Emmanuel Music’s renowned Bach Cantata Series led by music director Craig Smith.

April 2007