About
Top Prize Winner of the 2018 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition Wagner Division, Soprano AMY SHOREMOUNT-OBRA made her much-anticipated Metropolitan Opera Debut in October 2014 as “First Lady” in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, singing all nine performances of the opera, three of which were Sirius XM Satellite Broadcasts. She recently returned to the Met in the fall of 2017 for the revival of the English version of the opera in the same role. In previous seasons at the Met, she has covered the roles of "Donna Anna" in Don Giovanni, "Anna" in Nabucco, “Clotilde” in Norma, “Aksinya” in Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and “Queen of the Night” (also in Die Zauberflöte). Ms. Shoremount-Obra’s other recent operatic appearances have included “Donna Anna” in Don Giovanni with Opera Las Vegas, The Savannah Voice Festival, and NYC's new Venture Opera, “Musetta” in La Bohème with the Savannah Philharmonic, “Marchesa” in Verdi’s Un Giorno di Regno with Odyssey Opera of Boston, “Fiordiligi” in Cosi fan tutte with Annapolis Opera, and “Leonore” in Beethoven’s Fidelio with Grand Harmonie.
During the 2017-18 season, she covered the role of "Freia" in Wagner's "Das Rheingold" with the New York Philharmonic and traveled to Hawaii for concerts as part of the Hawaii International Music Festival. Her performances in Hawaii included her first collaboration with Argentinean Bandoneon player JP Jofre at Blue Note Hawaii. The fall of 2017 saw her return to the Metropolitan Opera in the role of "First Lady" for both the German and English versions of The Magic Flute. 2018 began with an Artist-in-Residency with the Palm Springs Opera Guild in Palm Springs, California. In February she made her debut with the Pacific Symphony in Costa Mesa, California for Mozart’s The Magic Flute, performing her signature role of “First Lady” and in March, performed Gounod's St. Cecilia Mass and Schubert's Mass in G with the Scarsdale New Choral Society. In April, she returned to New York to perform Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music with the National Chorale in Lincoln Center at David Geffen Hall. In May, she appeared twice at Carnegie Hall: at Zankel Hall with the Opera Orchestra of New York as part of the Winners' Concert for the Gerda Lissner Foundation, and with the late Glen Roven for his concert at Weill Recital Hall titled "Three Baritones". The summer of 2018 included teaching residencies in Chihuahua Mexico for the International Opera Workshop CUU and in Orlando, FL with The Juilliard School.
Recent solo concert engagements include the Fauré Requiem (2013) and Schubert Mass in G (2016) at Carnegie Hall with MidAmerica Productions, Haydn Lord Nelson Mass/ Mozart Coronation Mass (2013) and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle (2017) with the New Choral Society, various performances at the Viennese Opera Ball of New York (2010-2016) and the Fire Island Opera Festival (2013, 2014) (including a concert in Marfa, TX with Marfa Live Arts 2015), appearances with the FL Keys Concert Association (2013, 2015), a concert of opera favorites at Yavapai College in Prescott, AZ (2016), a recital with Tenor Cameron Schutza in Lincoln Center with the Wagner Society of New York (2017), an appearance with Opera America’s New Opera Showcase (2017), a concert with Violinist Eric Silberger and Pianist Carlin Ma at The Old Church in Portland, OR (2017), a special appearance at the Sherrill Milnes Gala in NYC (2017), a concert appearance at the Savannah Music Festival (2016), a solo recital of Rachmaninoff with Pianist Chris Cooley at the Savannah Voice Festival (2015), Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at SUNY Purchase under the baton of Justin Bischof (2017), an Artist-In-Residency at the Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua in collaboration with Opera Guadalajara which culminated with a performance with Mexican Tenor Manuel Castillo (2017), and a solo recital with pianist Eunjung Lee as part of the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series at the Chicago Cultural Center (2013). This recital aired live on WFMT, Chicago’s Classical Station.
Important concert debuts include her Carnegie Hall debut in 2005 as the Soprano Soloist in Brahms’ Requiem with The Juilliard Orchestra under the baton of the late James DePreist, and in 2016, her debut at David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center as the Soprano Soloist in Verdi's Requiem with the National Chorale. During the summer of 2016, she appeared in Honolulu, on The Big Island of Hawaii and in Maui with Virtuoso Violinist Eric Silberger, Louisiana Philharmonic Cellist Daniel Lelchuk and Canadian Pianist Ian Parker for the first season of the Hawaii International Music Festival, a festival she co-founded. Her performance at the Blaisdell Concert Hall included a collaboration with world renowned Taiko Artist Kenny Endo.
Ms. Shoremount-Obra made her European Operatic debut in 2004 as “Ifigenia” in Handel’s Oreste at the Spoleto Festival, Italy.
A champion of new music, Ms. Shoremount-Obra has premiered/collaborated with some of today’s most popular and notable composers including Tarik O’Regan, Dan Visconti, John Zorn, and Paola Prestini. She completed a one-year residency in 2011/12 with American Opera Projects as part of their Composers and the Voice Program, where she premiered music written specifically for her, by a team of six composers/librettist teams.
In September of 2018, Ms. Shoremount-Obra appeared in Boston as “Artemis” in the world premiere of Dan Visconti and Cerise Jacobs' virtual reality video game opera “PermaDeath”. November brought her to Mexico to debut with the Orquesta Filarmónica del Estado de Chihuahua in a solo concert of arias from Il Trovatore, Nabucco, Tannhäuser, and Turandot. In December, she returned to the Metropolitan Opera for their holiday production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute both covering and singing (January performances) “First Lady”. The spring of 2019 includes her debut with the Oregon Music Festival (Kodály’s Te Deum and Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music), a performance at the Sherrill Milnes Gala in New York, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Mass in C with the Scarsdale New Choral Society in addition to an Artist-In-Residency with the Palm Springs Opera Guild (CA) and at the University of Tulsa (OK), where she will also appear in recital. Future seasons include her role debut in the title role of Puccini’s Turandot among many other debuts and appearances at major opera houses and with orchestras in the US and internationally.
Ms. Shoremount-Obra is a 2004 New York Regional Winner and National Semi-Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She has also won numerous awards from other organizations, including the Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation, which she was awarded at her graduation from The Juilliard School and has since been supported with supplemental grants from the same foundation. She is the 2016 winner of the Ursula Springer Award from the Wagner Society of New York. She is a native of New Jersey and holds degrees from Manhattan School of Music (BM, MM) and The Juilliard School (AD). She continues her vocal studies in New York as a student of Diana Soviero. In August 2017, Ms. Shoremount-Obra was appointed Adjunct Assistant Professor of Voice at Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music. She enjoys teaching graduate level students there while she continues her active performing career.