Nancy Allen Lundy, soprano

Nancy Allen Lundy is a regular guest of the world’s leading opera companies and orchestras, where she has earned critical acclaim for her unique vocal beauty, skillful musicianship and theatrical prowess, which she lends to a wide variety of classical and contemporary styles.

At the New York City Opera, she has appeared as Poppea in Handel’s Agrippina, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Sophie in Jonathan Miller’s production of Der Rosenkavalier, Curley’s Wife in Of Mice and Men, Zerlina in Hal Prince’s Don Giovanni, Gilda in Rigoletto, and Musetta in La Boheme, Houston Grand Opera (Fiakermilli in Arabella with Renee Fleming), The Washington Opera (Sophie in Werther), Opera Pacific (Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier), The Minnesota Opera (Ann Trulove in The Rake’s Progress), Opera Company of Philadelphia (Blondchen in Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Canadian Opera Company (Hero in Beatrice et Benedict), Opera Theatre of St. Louis (Singer #1 in Transformations), Spoleto, U.S.A Festival (Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier with Renata Scotto), Teatro Municipal de Santiago de Chile (Servilia in La Clemenza di Tito), and Curley’s Wife in Francesca Zambello’s productionof Of Mice and Men at the Bregenzer Festspeile.

In recent seasons, she hass performed Cunegonde in Candide in Rome, Italy for the Festival Euro Mediterraneo, returned to the New York City Opera as Curley’s Wife inOf Mice and Men, appeared with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra as featured soloist in Tan Dun’s The Gate, and has appeared with the Cincinnati Opera as Claire in the American premiere in Peter Benggston’s The Maids as Musetta, and as Caroline Gaines in Danielpour’s Margaret Garner. She also repeatedher success as Lan in Tan Dun’s Tea in a return engagement with the Netherlands Opera, and appeared with the Portland Opera as Madame Cortese in Il Viaggio a Reims.. This season included more performances of Tea at Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan, and in Shanghai. She also returned to Portland Opera as Pat Nixon in Nixon in China and appeared with Hawaii Opera Theater as Gilda.

Notable concert engagements include performances with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal for Messiah and Strauss Brentano Lieder with Charles Dutoit, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Flemish Radio Orchestra, as well as Mendelssohn’s Elias with the Duisburger Philharmoniker, Bruno Weil conducting. The demand for her portrayal of the soprano role in Carmina Burana led her to consecutive performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo), National Symphony Orchestra, Taiwan, and Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal at New York’s Carnegie Hall.

Oscar-winning composer Tan Dun began writing for Ms. Lundy following her success in Peony Pavilion directed by Peter Sellars at London’s Barbican Center, with subsequent performances in Rome and Paris. She premiered his Orchestra Theater IV: The Gate with the NHK Symphony Orchestra. She has sung The Gate and Orchestra Theater III: Red Forecast with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, London’s BBC Symphony Orchestra as well as orchestras in Duisburg, Luxembourg, Brussels, Lyon, Shanghai, and Lisbon, and in Sapporo at the Pacific Music Festival. Ms. Lundy created the role of Lan in Tan Dun’s new opera, Tea, in the fall of 2002 in Tokyo, under the direction of Pierre Audi.

A recipient of the Sony ES Award from the Juilliard School, the Stanley Tausend Award from New York City Opera and the Sullivan Foundation Award and Career Grant, Ms. Lundy can be heard on the New Albion label on a CD of songs entitled Dance Hits by Aaron Kernis.