Kishna Davis, soprano
Photo Credit: Melissa Sweazy
Kishna Davis, soprano, is widely acclaimed throughout the United States and Europe for her performances in opera, with orchestras, and as a solo concert artist. Bess in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess has become a signature role for Ms. Davis, with performances at New York City Opera (John de Main, conductor), Opera Company of Philadelphia, Indianapolis Opera, Virginia Opera, San Francisco National Symphony, Cleveland, Berlin, Rome, and Praque Czech Republic Symphonies. Other operatic appearances include Serena in Porgy and Bess (Santa Fe), Sister Rose in Dead Man Walking (Baltimore Opera), Nedda in Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci (Opera Memphis), the title role in Puccini’s Tosca (Metro Lyric Opera of New Jersey), Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale (Indianapolis Opera), Musetta in Puccini’s La bohème (Metro Lyric Opera, Connecticut Grand Opera), the title role in Verdi’s Aida (Metro Lyric Opera), Medoro in Handel’s Orlando, the title role in Puccini's Suor Angelica (Juilliard Opera), and concert scenes from Verdi’s La forza del destino and Dvorák’s Rusalka, the latter three at the Altenburg Opera Festival in Germany. Currently, she is singing the title role in Aida at Opera Memphis.
She has frequently performed excerpts from Porgy and Bess with orchestras in the United States, including the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolftrap, the Baltimore Symphony under Yuri Termirkanov, the Cleveland Orchstra conducted by Leonard Slatkin, the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bobby McFerrin, and the Oregon, Pacific, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Alabama symphonies, and abroad, in Martinique, on tour with the Morgan State University choir in Prague, with the Chicago Sinfonietta during the ensemble’s European tour, and recently in Rome and Siena under Yuri Termirkanov.
Ms. Davis has been the featured soprano soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic, and her other performances with orchestras include the debut of Nkeiru Okoye's Songs of Harriet Tubman with the West Piedmont Symphony in North Carolina, and a 2009 performance of the piece with the Hopkins Symphony Orchestra. Also, concert performances of arias from Kurt Weill’s Street Scene (Phoenix Symphony), André Previn’s song cycle Honey and Rue (Annapolis Symphony), the soprano solo in Leslie Dunner’s Songs of a Motherless Child with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Dallas, Baltimore, and Annapolis symphonies, and Barber's Knoxville Summer of 1915 with the Grand Rapids Symphony.
Other concert appearances have included the soprano solos in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Missa Solemnis, Duke Ellington’s Sacred Music (Cleveland Jazz Fest), various arias from oratorios by Handel (Marin Alsop conducting the Colorado Symphony), Maria’s songs from West Side Story (Spokane Symphony), and appearances with the Evansville Philharmonic and the Sunshine Pops Orchestra in southwest Florida, as well as Holiday concerts with the Baltimore and Virginia Symphonies. Ms. Davis also returned for the second year as soprano soloist for the New Year’s Eve Gala, at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra. Upcoming concert appearances include the Cleveland Pops, and holiday concerts with the Jacksonville and Virginia Symphonies.
Ms. Davis was a member of the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera, where she sang the role of the Countess in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, subsequently appearing in the same role at Western Opera Theatre. As a fellow at the Aspen Music Festival, Ms. Davis sang the title role in Carlyle Floyd’s Susannah, conducted by James Conlon, and also appeared there as Musetta. She performed Diedre Murray’s jazz opera, The Running Man, in Lenox, Massachusetts.
Most recently, Ms. Davis performed the title role of Aida with Memphis Opera for their opening 2010/2011 season. Also this season, she will perform at the Gershwin Gala with the Cleveland Pops and will make her soprano soloist debut with the Jacksonville, Florida Symphony Christmas Extravaganza. Ms. Davis will also appear as a soprano soloist at the Kennedy Center with the Heartland Chamber Chorale, as well as perform the title role for the Porgy & Bess 75th Anniversary National Tour.
Ms. Davis, a winner of the Baltimore Opera Competition, is a graduate of The Juilliard Opera Center, where she received her master’s degree in music. In addition, she holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Morgan State University.
Links
Visit Ms. Davis' WebsiteDownload a PDF file of Ms. Davis' bio here.
Photos
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