San Francisco Chronicle Hails Jamie Barton's Work Speaking Out for Women
“Jamie Barton has an obvious affinity for strong, confident and outspoken women — both on and off the operatic stage. Perhaps that’s because, well, she’s one herself.” The American mezzo talks with Joshua Kosman about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Carmen, and other fierce feminist role models.
July 29, 2019
““Jamie Barton has an obvious affinity for strong, confident and outspoken women — both on and off the operatic stage. Perhaps that’s because, well, she’s one herself.””
The “extravagantly gifted American mezzo-soprano” Jamie Barton spoke with Chronicle critic Joshua Kosman in a wide-ranging interview addressing all things fierce and feminist.
“I wouldn’t mind finding a little more balance between life and career. I have what I call the rule of three when I’m looking at gigs, and an offer has to satisfy at least two of these three or it’s off the list. It has to be a location I want to go to, Carnegie Hall or San Francisco or something like that. It has to be a project that I am really interested in. Or it has to pay all of the money.”
In the meantime, Barton has her eye on some dream projects. She still hopes to get mandolinist and composer Chris Thile to write some music for her, and to accompany her in a program that also includes the lute songs of the Renaissance Englishman John Dowland.
And she wants to sing Carmen.
“I’d like to do something that celebrates people of all different shapes, sizes, colors — and I think that is who Carmen and her people are. Whereas Don José is leading a very conservative, very Birmingham, Ala., kind of existence. Now, I come from that world. I understand it. But also I am of the more colorful liberal world now, so I’ve got a specific understanding of who that character is — and quite honestly I think I could sing the snot out of it.”
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.
Jamie Barton Makes 'Powerhouse' Glimmerglass Debut
"As her voice leaps across the extremes of range and emotions, Barton remains solid as a rock." Jamie Barton sings Elizabeth Proctor in Robert Ward's haunting The Crucible, directed by Francesca Zambello.
July 24, 2016
Photo by Karli Cadel
““Imbuing Elizabeth Proctor with both staunchness and fragility falls to mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, whose marvelous timbre and expressive delivery never falter.” NEW YORK UPSTATE”
Mezzo Jamie Barton makes her Glimmerglass Festival debut as Elizabeth Proctor in Robert Ward's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Crucible, based on Arthur Miller's play about the 1692 Salem witch trials.
She joins baritone Brian Mulligan, tenor Jay Hunter Morris, and bass-baritone David Pittsinger, in a Francesca Zambello production helmed by Nicole Paeiment. Performances run through August 27, with tickets available on the Glimmerglass website.
Read more reviews:
"The mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, whose voice is majestically plush yet somehow always articulate, even conversational, made much of Elizabeth’s hurt and dignity."
The New York Times
"Powerhouse mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton is Elizabeth Proctor, the faithful wife wounded by her husband’s sole indiscretion. She sang gloriously, whether pathos or outrage."
Blasting News
"Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, as Elizabeth Proctor, has a sweeping scene in which she pledges devotion to her husband but also demands his faithfulness. As her voice leaps across the extremes of range and emotions, Barton remains solid as a rock."
Albany Times Union
“Jamie Barton and Brian Mulligan play Elizabeth and John Proctor, and they bring their seasoned powers to the opera. The two singers sing beautifully and their acting is so very truthful and heartbreaking they convince us that these two are worlds apart. In every musical phrase and pause they portray the moment-to-moment yearning of these two souls who cannot express their love or heal the brokenness of their dreams.”
DC Theatre Scene
“Glimmerglass cast it powerfully, with Brian Mulligan and Jamie Barton in redoubtable vocal form as the Proctors…”
Washington Post
"Ward’s portrait is built on incisive musical character development. Glimmerglass fielded a superb cast. Two powerhouse singers, Brian Mulligan and Jamie Barton, anchored the piece as the beleaguered John and Elizabeth Proctor.."
Wall Street Journal
Jamie Barton to Debut at New York Philharmonic, Return to Houston Grand Opera
Recent announcements for the 2016/17 season also include a return to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and a Wigmore Hall recital debut.
February 3, 2016
In the 2016/17 season, Jamie Barton will make her Wigmore Hall recital debut in London, and return to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for Mahler's 3rd Symphony.
Barton will also debut with the New York Philharmonic as Fricka in a semi-staged production of Das Rheingold, a role she first sang at Houston Grand Opera.
An alumna of the HGO Studio, Barton will return to Houston in April and May of 2017 for Götterdämmerung, in which she will perform Waltraute and Second Norn alongside Simon O'Neill as Siegfried, Christine Goerke as Brünnhilde, and Andrea Silvestrelli as Hagen.
Photo by Lynn Lane