Kendra Colton
Biography Kendra Colton
Kendra Colton
is a versatile singer who enjoys a career of great variety. Described by Opera News as a soprano who sings "with beauty, brightness and poise", Ms. Colton has performed with major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. She has performed repertoire from Monteverdi and Lully to new works specifically written for her. Her career has been largely centered in the United States but she has also performed in Germany, Switzerland, England, and Spain.
A significant portion of the repertoire Ms. Colton performs is the sacred music of J.S. Bach. She has sung all of Bach’s major works and, at Emmanuel Music in Boston, nearly all of the soprano arias and duets from the cantatas. She has performed many versions of the St. Matthew Passion: with major orchestras under the batons of Helmuth Rilling and Bernard Haitink; in the highly acclaimed Jonathan Miller staging of the work at the Brooklyn Academy of Music; on tour with Santa Fe Pro Musica singing one-on-a-part; with period-instrument ensembles, and in a one-on-a-part recording for the Smithsonian label. In addition to the St. Matthew Passion she has presented many performances of the B Minor Mass, the St. John Passion, the Christmas Oratorio, the Magnificat and the solo soprano cantatas. She has also been collaborating with oboist Peggy Pearson in a multi-CD collection of cantata arias and duets by Bach.
Ms. Colton is active in new music circles as well. She has commissioned and premiered numerous works: Finite Infinity for soprano, oboe, and piano by Peter Child; Uncertainty is Beautiful for soprano and chamber orchestra by Andy Vores; and The Reckless Heart for soprano and piano by Andy Vores. She collaborated with Winsor Music in a consortium to commission Crossroads, a work for soprano, oboe, and strings by John Harbison. When John Harbison was composing The Great Gatsby for the Metropolitan Opera, Ms. Colton was asked to prepare the role of Daisy for the workshop recording that was made before the first Met performance. She has also performed many other chamber works by Mr. Harbison in the Boston area.
Performances in semi-staged and fully-staged opera productions include both period and modern conceptions. At the Göttingen Handel Festival she sang the role of Seleuce in Tolomeo in a Baroque setting with period instruments, Baroque gestures and costumes. She sang the title character in Griffelkin, by Lukas Foss, in a semi-staged performance with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and then recorded the opera. Additional roles she has sung from Mozart operas include Pamina from Die Zauberflöte, Cherubino from Le Nozze di Figaro, Aminta from Il Re Pastore, and Servilia from La Clemenza di Tito.
Ms. Colton is admired for her recital performances and it is this art song repertoire that she has loved since her youth when she heard her mother sing. Her growing discography of art songs include: He Brought Me Roses, a collection of songs by Joseph Marx; Le Charme, a collection of French songs by Debussy, Fauré, Chausson, and Poulenc; The Reckless Heart, a collection of songs by Barber, Britten, Gurney and Vores; and her newest release of songs by John Harbison will be available soon.
Ms. Colton currently teaches at Oberlin College Conservatory.
