Jamie Barton Takes UK by Storm as Favorite 'Queer Girl with A Nose Ring'
"We are witnessing something rather remarkable. That moment an audience falls in love with a singer." Jamie Barton’s media blitz ahead of Last Night of the Proms included appearances on television, radio, national print media, podcasts, and digital and glossy magazines.
September 16, 2019
““We are witnessing something rather remarkable. That moment an audience falls in love with a singer.””
Jamie Barton’s headlining performance at Last Night of the Proms left fans and audience members around the world glowing. Her flurry of media appearances, including features on BBC World Television’s GMT, Today Programme, In Tune, Breakfast, Front Row Live, BBC News, BBC Digital, The Times, The Guardian, The American Magazine, Classical Music Magazine, and Guilty Feminist, were followed by rave reviews afterwards.
Photo by Chris Christodoulou
Jamie Barton Speaks out for Body Acceptance & Queer Rights in The Times
“After thinking about what she really wanted to project to an audience of millions, she came to the conclusion that exhorting Britain’s naval hegemony wasn’t the only interesting message she could broadcast. “When I sat down with the BBC in October I told them, ‘You know, I can think of a flag that I can get behind. I’d really like to carry the Pride flag.’” The American mezzo tackles hot-button issues in this in-depth profile.
September 12, 2019
““She does not have any truck with the idea that singers playing romantic heroes and heroines on the stage are more credible if they are svelte. ‘Pardon me, but that’s a bullshit argument. Audiences want to see themselves reflected on stage. So to reduce what is represented on stage to a very narrow box of looks, you’re cutting out portions of the audience.’””
Photo by Sarah Creswell
Ahead of headlining Last Night of the Proms, mezzo Jamie Barton was the subject of a major profile in The Times. Barton advocated for the rights of all audiences, regardless of their body size or sexual identity, to be represented onstage.
“Barton is serious about standing up for gay rights at an event that is normally free of politics, sexual or otherwise – the BBC even vets the conductor’s Last Night speech to check for anything that would compromise its objectivity. She has a simple riposte to critics on social media. ‘Guest artists have always brought their own personal swing to this [concert]. And, quite honestly, the BBC knew who they were hiring. I showed up to the table being exactly who I am. And in general I don’t feel that queer culture should be set apart from normal culture. It’s part of my life, it’s a part of so many musicians’ lives.’”
Refugee Orchestra Project Makes Successful UK Debut
“Lidiya Yankovskaya has a passion for the new and for the neglected. She’s here for a Refugee Orchestra concert, she’s the Music Director of Chicago Opera Theater, and a whole host of other things that make me feel deeply inadequate.” Ahead of ROP’s London debut, Artistic Director Lidiya Yankovskaya got the word out.
September 4, 2019
““The richness, variety and depth of music that has come out of immigrant and refugee communities is immense. I hope our audiences see that refugees have come from many places throughout our history, and any of us could find ourselves in the position of desperately needing help.””
The Refugee Orchestra Project has just made its UK Debut under the leadership of its founder and artistic director Lidiya Yankovskaya. The Russian-American maestra made several important media appearances in London, including features on BBC Radio 3 In Tune, Newsday, The American Magazine, and Classical Music Magazine.
Photo by Nick Rutter
“‘In these divisive times, vocal support of refugees has become critical – and musicians are uniquely well-positioned to address this issue,’ explains Yankovskaya. ‘Our art form crosses linguistic and cultural boundaries, and so much of what we do is rooted in collaboration.’”
The Cover Star of Classical Music Magazine's September Issue Is...
“I’m interested in building relationships with those houses, like San Francisco, who are doing really good work, but also trying to be inclusive in terms of who they hire as well as who they market to. That is a direction opera needs to go in to stay relevant and viable.” From witches and Wagner to women championing body positivity, this star mezzo-soprano talks all things opera with Classical Music Magazine.
September 1, 2019
“‘A witch is inherently the story of a woman going against what society deems worthy, beautiful, and powerful.””
Classical Music Magazine proclaims, “this is The Season of Jamie Barton.” In conversation with Lisa Houston, Barton opened up about her whirlwind schedule, getting her start as a young singer, the process of managing her career trajectory, and how she would love to sing Carmen.
“‘I feel strongly about Carmen,’ she says, ‘because I think I understand the character and the conflict. Carmen and all her associates are creative, liberal, colourful. They would be a Seattle, Washington, group of friends. While Don Jose is conservative, very Atlanta, Georgia,’ she says, laughing. ‘So they are oil and water. There is a stock character that people go to, which makes sense in a lot of ways, but for me the character is not dependent upon a size and look. I think a body-positive Carmen is right up the alley of what people should be thinking of and it’s something I’d love to be a part of.’”
Jamie Barton to Headline Last Night of The Proms
The American mezzo will be the featured performer in classical music’s biggest party.
April 17, 2019
““Charismatic American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, whose lustrous voice has established her as one of the most exciting performers of her generation, joins Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus to lead the musical celebrations that bring the world’s greatest classical music festival to a spectacular close.””
Georgia native Jamie Barton will close out the 2019 BBC Proms in a Last Night of The Proms spectacular on September 14 at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
One of classical music’s biggest nights of the year, the performance will be televised live across the globe. Details and tickets are available via BBC.
Photo by BreeAnne Clowdus
Jamie Barton Subject of Opera Magazine's 'People' Feature
“A complete singer with a once-in-a-generation voice, a born communicator, a deeply compassionate human being with so much to give to audiences – Jamie Barton is an artist whose time truly has come.” The American mezzo earns a six-page feature in the March 2019 issue of Opera.
February 15, 2019
““Jamie Barton may hail from Rome, Georgia, not Rome, Italy, but she possesses an exceptional affinity for Italian style. The lustrous-voiced mezzo-soprano shapes her legato in Bellini and Donizetti with superb elegance. Turning to Verdi, She effortlessly masters the toughest vocal demands, and her detailed textual communication yields an interpretative subtlety that Verdi’s mezzo roles seldom receive.””
Photo by Wilfried Hösl
American mezzo Jamie Barton is the subject of a six-page ‘People’ feature in the March issue of Opera Magazine (UK). Read the wide-ranging interview with this “complete singer with a once-in-a-generation voice” via Opera.
All Who Wander Wins 2018 BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award
“No one who has heard Jamie Barton in action is in any doubt about the American mezzo-soprano’s gifts. She boasts an expansive, robust vocal sound, tinged with richly varied colors, and she deploys it with a distinctive combination of heroic power and tender intimacy. So the splendors of her debut release don’t exactly come as a surprise. But that hardly diminishes the joy of listening to Barton’s expressive, full-throated performances.” Jamie Barton's debut solo album has won the Vocal Category of the 2018 BBC Music Magazine Awards.
April 6, 2018
““The long wait for Jamie Barton’s debut recital disc was worth every minute. Barton is wonderfully idiomatic in Dvořák and Sibelius, and she and her pianist give a performance of Mahler’s Rückert Lieder that is up there with the greatest.””
Jamie Barton's debut album, released on Delos Music, has won the 2018 BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award. Accompanied by pianist Brian Zeger, All Who Wander features lush, romantic melodies by Mahler, Dvorak, and Sibelius. All Who Wander was also nominated for an International Classical Music Award in the Vocal Recital category, and was one of six Solo Vocal albums shortlisted by Gramophone for their Classical Music Awards.
Photo courtesy of BBC Music Magazine
Jamie Barton's Debut Album Nominated for BBC Music Magazine Awards
"Some of the most beautiful recordings I have ever heard. Anyone who loves the human voice should own this." All Who Wander is up for a BBC Music Magazine Award in the Vocal category.
January 25, 2018
Jamie Barton's debut album, released on Delos Music, has been nominated for a BBC Music Magazine Award in the Vocal category for 2018. Voting is open until February 19 at www.classical-music.com/awards.
All Who Wander has also been nominated for an International Classical Music Award in the Vocal Recital category, and was one of six Solo Vocal albums shortlisted by Gramophone for their Classical Music Awards.
Accompanied by pianist Brian Zeger, All Who Wander features lush, romantic melodies by Mahler, Dvorak, and Sibelius.
““Jamie Barton seems now to be the equal of any dramatic mezzo before the public. The great element which has enabled her rise to stardom is, of course, her voice-large, rich, fully controlled. She is one of the few singers who can delight an audience simply by the sheer beauty of her voice. Nowhere is this beauty more evident than here.
She and Zeger communicate exactly the proper mood of each song, whether boisterous and fun-loving or quiet and reflective. Barton produces some exquisite soft singing, with amazingly steady sustained tones [and] she emphasizes the drama of the situation with great variations in dynamics, from her beautiful soft singing to exciting forte passages.
But it is the opening section of Mahler songs that makes this recording stand alone – Ms. Barton’s glorious sound reinforcing the emotions surely felt by any sensitive listener. These are some of the most beautiful recordings I have ever heard. Anyone who loves the human voice should own this.””
Corinne Winters to Bookend Her 2016/17 Season at Royal Opera House
Corinne Winters will make her ROH Covent Garden debut as Fiordiligi in a new production of Così fan tutte in the fall and return in the summer in her signature role of Violetta in La traviata.
April 6, 2016
Corinne Winters will open her 2016/17 season with her Royal Opera House Covent Garden debut this fall as Fiordiligi in a new Jan Philipp Gloger production of Mozart's Così fan tutte.
She will return to close out her season as Violetta in the beloved Richard Eyre production of La traviata, marking her first London Violetta since her explosion onto the international opera scene in the 2013 English National Opera production.
Così fan tutte performances will run September 22 – October 19, 2016, and will also feature Angela Brower as Dorabella, Daniel Behle as Ferrando, and Alessio Arduini as Guglielmo. The October 17 performance will be screened live in cinemas in over 35 countries.
Winters will appear in La traviata June 27 – July 4, 2017, alongside Atalla Ayan as Alfredo and George Petean as Germont. The July 4 performance will be featured as a live, free relay to several outdoor screens as part of BP Big Screens.
Tickets for both productions will be available via the Royal Opera House website.
Corinne Winters Returns to English National Opera
"Winters just belongs on a stage." Corinne Winters returns to the London Coliseum in a controversial new Benedict Andrews production of La bohème.
October 17, 2015
Photo by Jane Hobson
““Musically the show is dominated by Winters, whose sound is far bigger and more burnished than her waif-like frame might suggest.” THE LONDON TIMES”
In her first appearance as a Londoner, Corinne Winters is earning critical acclaim for her return to English National Opera as Mimì in a controversial new Benedict Andrews production of La bohème. Critics are praising her performance as "pure, clean, shimmering with delicate control" (Gscene) and "the undisputed bright spot." (Bachtrack)
The show, which also stars Zach Borichevsky, Rhian Lois, and Duncan Rock, runs through November 26, with tickets available through the ENO website.
Read reviews:
"Corinne Winters just belongs on a stage. The sound of that big voice shaking her tiny frame was as exciting as it was upsetting in the last two acts. For sure the piece usually gets to you – but it’s less often that you care about the people you meet in it."
Edward Seckerson
"Happily for ENO, Corinne Winters is an assured heroine who produces a pure, limpid tone even when her upper frame is contorted. Her vocal colour, darker than we often hear in the role, is a delight."
What's On Stage
"Corinne Winters’ Mimì was the evening’s heroine, the undisputed bright spot. The burnished warmth in her soprano as she declares that “Gently the April sunlight will kiss me” was lovely, gorgeously phrased. I long to hear her sing the role in Italian. She nailed the top C at the end of “O soave fanciulla”, sung not off-stage, as Rodolfo and Mimì head off into moonlit Paris, but collapsed on a mattress. Winters sang her heart out in her Act III farewell."
BachTrack
"As Mimì, Corinne Winters has a splendid voice whose assertiveness is offset by great smoothness and evenness of tone."
musicOMH
"The singing in general was excellent with a stand out performance from US soprano Corinne Winters whom I last saw in an ENO production of La Traviata. She is an extraordinary singer whose small frame belies a powerful well controlled voice, rich in tone."
Limelight Magazine
"Even in a "verismo" opera, with the naturalistic acting and behaviour of the characters skilfully maintained in a modern setting, we can surely allow the metaphor of this theatrical invention. Rodolfo and Mimi are literally infected with love and complete their erotic duet while embracing each other on the floor. There was a time when singers in opera never sang in such extreme physical circumstances, or at least moaned about being asked to do so. Now it happens in almost every opera you see. And the new American stars Zach Borichevsky and Corinne Winters pull this scene off brilliantly."
What's On Stage
"The vocal honours go to Corinne Winters for a characterisation of gathering intensity and pathos as Mimì."
Plays to See
"The youthful cast of principals are a hard-working crew, headed by the passionately sung Mimi of Corinne Winters."
The Sunday Times
"For all its consumptive trajectory, La bohème is about grabbing at life, not lamenting it. Most Mimis might as well trail a shroud for all the vitality they exhibit – delicate is the default setting – but Corinne Winters gave her a welcome sense of agency. She knows her mind – she even makes jokes, almost unheard of in the soulful seamstress."
ArtsJournal
"Rodolfo and Mimi spend the rest of Act I lolling around the floor, though Corinne Winters somehow manages to project delectable sounds while hunched up with her back to the audience. Musically the show is dominated by Winters, whose sound is far bigger and more burnished than her waif-like frame might suggest."
The London Times
"Corinne Winters is a slight Mimì, who nevertheless summons warm tone to fill out Puccini’s romantic vocal lines."
Financial Times
"Corinne Winters shone as Mimì. Pure, clean, shimmering with delicate control when needed and with serious passion in her voice, I was enthralled. It’s always hard to get the acting right for Mimì, but this knowing, exhausted but still flickering with hope and grasping at raw straws of feeling was spot on. I’ve watched Mimì die many times, often wishing she’d get on with it, but this time I was genuinely moved, her death, off to one side, abandoned, ignored, drugged and wretched saddened me and I left sobered by this waste of life."
Gscene
"Corinne Winters made an excellent Mimi, with a voice full of emotion and vulnerability."
Daily Express
"Corinne Winters began promisingly as Mimì and, as the evening proceeded, rose to the role's vocal and dramatic challenges; her clean, appealing lyric soprano is turning into an instrument to watch."
Opera News
"Corinne Winters as Mimi offered bright, pure, unshakeable singing and a touchingly genuine character."
The Independent
“The muddle is relieved by Corinne Winters’ performance as Mimì. She’s a fine actor, who can convey as much with a wry smile or a quick turn of the head, as with her rich dark soprano voice. She’s touching and vulnerable, and makes the most of a botched staging.”
Blouin ArtInfo
“Winters and Borichevsky are formidable actors, good-looking and terrific to watch. She sings with gorgeous tone throughout…”
The Guardian
Corinne Winters Featured in The Independent
"She has everything: the voice, the charisma, the looks, the intensity, the acting...touching, vulnerable and vocally flexible, melting or brilliantly edgy as necessary." Corinne Winters speaks with The Independent about marketing opera to young people and her new life as a Londoner.
October 13, 2015
Photo by Becca Fay
Corinne Winters speaks with The Independent about marketing opera to young people and her new life as a Londoner.
Corinne Winters, the young American soprano, meets me at the London Coliseum. It has effectively been her artistic home since her breakthrough appearance as Violetta in Verdi’s La traviata in 2013. Her megawatt personality and quick, strong thinking remain undimmed after a full-on morning rehearsal for English National Opera’s new production of La bohème, in which she sings Mimi, perhaps Puccini’s best-loved heroine. At 32, she has everything: the voice, the charisma, the looks, the intensity, the acting. Her Violetta – touching, vulnerable and vocally flexible, melting or brilliantly edgy as necessary – apparently won her several years’ worth of further engagements.
Jamie Barton Makes BBC Proms Debut
"That joyfully dark, voluptuous and steady voice sucked us in from the first worried note to the last breath of emollient calm." Jamie Barton sings the Brahms Alto Rhapsody with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, under the baton of Marin Alsop.
September 2, 2015
Photo by Chris Christodoulou.
Mezzo Jamie Barton has made her BBC Proms debut, singing the Brahms Alto Rhapsody with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, led by Marin Alsop.
The Guardian writes, "the noble beauty of the sound was breathtaking" while the London Times writes that her "vocal finesse" and "joyfully dark, voluptuous and steady voice sucked us in from the first worried note to the last breath of emollient calm."
Barton will revisit the Alto Rhapsody this season with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra before traveling to Moscow for her Russian debut in a concert of Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra.
Read reviews:
"Marin Alsop’s Brahms concert with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment here formed the Proms debut of the American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, winner of Cardiff Singer of the World in 2013. Her Brahms singing on that occasion marked her out as an important interpreter of his music, an impression confirmed by her Proms performance of the Alto Rhapsody, one of his greatest works, though the unusual forces required – a male chorus in addition to alto and orchestra – have made it something of a rarity. Setting a text by Goethe, the rhapsody examines the nature of existential isolation and the potential of music to offer solace. Where some interpreters ramp up the angst, Barton was notably restrained: the only moment of overt passion came, tellingly, in the heft with which she uttered the statement that “human hatred” has forced Brahms’s traveller from his path. Elsewhere, the noble beauty of the sound was breathtaking."
The Guardian
"Why give opulent American mezzo and only possible winner of the 2013 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition Jamie Barton less than a quarter of an hour to shine in a masterpiece? Shine she did, with...a great voice – and Barton’s unquestionably is – with personality and feeling to match."
The Arts Desk
"Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, making her Proms debut, joined the orchestra and the male voices of the Choir of the Enlightenment for the Alto Rhapsody. Barton had an authoritative presence on stage, and drew us in with her rich low notes and touching communication of Goethe’s anguished words of despair. This was a moving performance which proved to be the evening's highlight. Jamie Barton emerged as the star of the evening."
Bachtrack
"It is a pity that these days the term ‘mezzo-soprano’ covers all lower-voice female soloists, because this is absolutely a piece for an old-fashioned contralto, and it was performed majestically as just that. Barton produces some beautifully sweet top notes, but her lower register is magnificent – the bottom A-flat was especially sonorous."
MusicOMH
"Vocal finesse shone from the Alto Rhapsody too, thanks to the wonderful American mezzo Jamie Barton. That joyfully dark, voluptuous and steady voice sucked us in from the first worried note to the last breath of emollient calm."
The London Times