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The American mezzo-soprano, Grace Gori, was a guest student at the Munich Hochschuele für Musik in 1990-1991. She has placed as a Semi-Finalist in both the Center for Comtemporary Opera Vocal Competition (1998) and the Oratorio Society of New York's Vocal Competition (1999) and twice has been a Finalist in the Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition.
Grace Gori has been praised by The Washington Post for her "fine sense of style" and "strong dramatic impact", and is known as an acclaimed performer in both the concert and operatic repertoire. Her opera credits include the Third Madrigale in Puccini's Manon Lescaut with the Washington National Opera, Carmen with the Eldbrooke Artists Series, Cherubino in Annapolis Opera's The Marriage of Figaro , Tessa in The Gondoliers with the Washington Savoyards, and numerous credits including Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte goes Hollywood and Elvira in Don Giovanni of Long Island with the In Series during their annual Mozart festivals.
As a concert artist, Grace Gori's credits include guest appearances with orchestras in the US and Canada, including the North York Symphony of Toronto, Canada, the Millbrook Orchestra of Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and the Amherst (New York) Symphony. As a recitalist, she has entertained audiences from Mississippi to Vienna, Austria, and Munich, Germany.
In the Washington, DC metropolitan area, Grace Gori has been a featured soloist with major organizations including the Cathedral Choral Society, the Master Chorale of Washington, the New Dominion Chorale, the Washington Bach Consort, the Maryland Handel Festival, and the Washington Women's Chorus. She made her John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts debut in 1999 with the Master Chorale of Washington in Alice Parker's Melodious Accord, and returned there in December 2004 as the mezzo soloist in the Kennedy Center's 2004 "Holiday Celebration Messiah Sing-Along" . She also enjoyed her television debut from the Kennedy Center during the national broadcast of the 2007 Kennedy Center Honors, in which she appeared as the Soprano II soloist in a gala performance of Beethoven's Choral Fantasy in honor of legendary pianist Leon Fleisher.
During the 2004-2005 season Grace Gori was heard in the role of Tigrana in a concert performance of Puccini's rarely performed Edgar with the American Center for Puccini Studies and premiered the song cycle, Reflections: a trilogy for mezzo soprano and piano by Marshall Ocker (1926-2004). Her performances during the 2005-2006 season included J.S. Bach's Magnificat (BWV 243) and Mozart's Requiem with the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic and the NoVa Community Chorus, Mozart's Leading Ladies with the InSeries, La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi with the American Center for Puccini Studies, and the World Premiere of Hannah's Song by Katherine Dienes with the Washington Women's Chorus. In November 2006, she reprised her role as the Third "desperate" Lady in the In Series' wild and wacky update of Mozart's The Magic Flute. In March 2007, she appeared again with the In Series as Mercedes in Carmen: The Tragedy of Don Jose, Director Nick Olcott's gripping new conception of Georges Bizet's classic work. She finished out the season as the Indian maiden Wowkle in Puccini's La Fanciulla del West with the American Center for Puccini Studies (June 2007).
During the 2007-2008 season, Grace Gori's performances included Georg Frideric Handel's Messiah in Mozart's orchestration with the New Dominion Chorale, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 ("Choral") with the American University Chorus and Symphony Orchestra, and Beethoven's Choral Fantasy with Peabody Conservatory Orchestra and the Choral Arts Society at the 2007 Kennedy Center Honors gala concert (broadcast December 26, 2007 on CBS). In April 2008, she joined soprano Nancy Almquist and pianist Dr. Jeffery Watson in recital as part of the Washington Conservatory of Music's "Concerts for the Nation's Capital" series. She finished the 2008 season in June with the George Mason University Center for the Arts, joining the Mason Festival of the Arts for the world premiere concert reading of Kim D. Sherman's opera, Love's Comedy, creating the role of Miss Skjaere in this English translation of Hendrik Ibsen's play of the same name. During the 2008-2009 season, she joined Washington's experimental InSeries as the meddling Public Opinion - sung "with ringing authority" according to reviews - in the InSeries new English translation and update by Kelley Rourke of Offenbach's satirical operetta, Orpheus in the Underworld, at the Atlas Performing Arts Center in Washington, DC. In Spring 2009, she joined the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic and the NOVA Community Chorus for two performances of luminous 's luminous Requiem.
This season (2009-2010), in December Grace Gori joined the Central Maryland Chorale for their holiday sing-along performance of Part I of Handel's Messiah. Later on, she will appear with Choralis in June 2010 under Maestra Gretchen Kuhrmann for Felix Mendelssohn's dramatic oratorio Elijah, along with fellow soloists Danielle Talamantes, soprano, Dennys Moura, tenor, and Kerry Wilkerson, baritone.
In addition to her performing career, Grace Gori teaches classical vocal technique privately through Gori Voice Studios, LLC and is on faculty at the Washington Conservatory of Music. She maintains an active performance schedule and performs frequently at Opera Night Live, a troupe of Washington's finest classical singers and entertainers, at Tuscana West Restaurant in downtown Washington, DC. She also maintains an active performance schedule both as a soloist and as part of the duo "Amanti Cantanti" with her husband, baritone Aurelius Gori. |
