Artist Biographies: Wendy Hillhouse

Mezzo Soprano The Witch in Lou Harrison's "Rapunzel"

Mezzo Soprano Wendy Hillhouse has achieved a rare versatility and mastery of diverse repertoireperformances. The concert platform includes many performances of the Verdi Requiem, Mahler's Second Symphony, The Messiah, and recordings of music by Lou Harrison and Alex Post. Hillhouse made her Glyndebourne Festival Opera debut in the opening of the new theatre, singing Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro and appeared in Seattle's 1995 Ring cycle. Other recent seasons have also included appearances with the Washington and New Orleans Operas (Faust, Eugene Onegin and Andrea Chenier) and performances of Mahler's Symphony No. 8, Vaughan-Williams' Hodie, the U.S. premiere of Holst's The Cloud Messenger, the Requiem of both Verdi and Duruflé, Leonard Bernstein's Jeremiah Symphony and The Messiah. She joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera in 1986 as Micah in Handel's Samson,and appeared there for 5 seasons in performances and broadcasts of I Puritani, Suor Angelica and Die Walküre. Other career highlights include engagements with the Teatro Liceu in Barcelona in Mozart's Lucio Silla and Rossini's Le Comte Ory with the Opéra de Nice. In the United States, Hillhouse has appeared with the opera companies of Dallas (The Marriage of Figaro, Eugene Onegin, Die Walküre), Los Angeles (The Magic Flute), San Francisco (Elektra), Philadelphia (Il barbiere di Siviglia ,Cosi fan tutte), Cincinnati (Faust), Manitoba (The Marriage of Figaro), Anchorage (Figaro), Columbus (Rigoletto), Pennsylvania Opera Theater (La Cenerentola), Sacramento (Barbiere), Dallas Lyric (Carmen, Ruddigore) and Concert Opera of San Francisco (Lucrezia Borgia and Francesca di Rimini). In addition to her operatic appearances, Hillhouse is an accomplished concert artist, having performed with the symphony orchestras of Boston, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Denver, Nashville, Sacramento, Oakland, Reno, San Jose, Lubbock, Lansing, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, and the Cabrillo and Midsummer Mozart Festivals. Other notable concert appearances have been Bach's St. Matthew Passion with Robert Shaw, William Hall's Master Chorale of Orange County and the University Musical Society of Ann Arbor, in addition to the Gorecki 3 Symphony to great acclaim at the Cabrillo Festival.

Hillhouse was the First Place Winner of the Artists Award of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and received the Lauréate in Voice at the Académie Maurice Ravel in France. She has won first prizes in numerous vocal competitions, including the Pavarotti Competition, the Eleanor Steber Competition, The Loren L. Zachary Society Competition, the San Francisco Opera Merola Auditions and the San Francisco Regional Metropolitan Opera Auditions.

Hillhouse holds degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the University of California at Berkeley, and the Académie Maurice Ravel in France. She is a resident of Redwood City, California, a member of the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and is on the roster of the California Arts Council Touring Artist Program. Recent performances include an Elijah, Mozart's Requiem with the San Francisco Concert Chorale, the prestigious Old First Concerts (San Francisco), Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, concerts of E. Armer's works, and the world premiere of The Money Tree in which she sang Aunt Agatha for Millenium Opera. She is featured on two newly released CD's: Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols" (Schola Cantorum) and Cowell's oratorio Atlantis. In great demand for the Verdi Requiem, she performs it this season with Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra. She will sing Mama McCourt (Ballad of Baby Doe) for Utah Opera in May 2001.