American soprano Claudia Waite is an active soloist at the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center in New York City. She has been a guest artist with Opera Orchestra of New York, Dallas Opera, San Francisco Opera, l'Opéra de Lyon, Opera Centruum Nederland, New Israeli Opera and many other major operas and orchestras around the world. Ms. Waite has been hailed by the press as "superlatively gifted," "perfection in her own right," and a "dominant musical force onstage." Worldwide audiences saw the soprano as a featured soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, under the baton of Maestro Seiji Ozawa, at the Opening Ceremonies of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Since her debut bow that same year at the Metropolitan Opera, the soprano has participated in such diverse productions as Die Zauberflöte, Dialogues des Carmelites, War and Peace, Der Rosenkavalier, Nabucco, Don Giovanni andThe Nose. A former Adler Fellow, Ms. Waite appeared in numerous productions at San Francisco Opera, including Macbeth, Elektra, Die Walküre, Cosí fan tutte, La Bohème, Rusalka, and the North American premiere of Sir Michael Tippett's King Priam. The soprano's repertoire includes many of opera's most exciting leading ladies: Sieglinde (Die Walküre), Countess Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), and Leonora (Fidelio and Il Trovatore); the comedic roles of Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus), Fata Morgana (L'Amour des Trois Oranges), and La Duchesse (La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein); as well as the title characters of Turandot, Lucrezia Borgia, and Anna Bolena.
As a concert artist, Ms. Waite has appeared as the soprano soloist in the Verdi Requiem, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, and Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915. As a soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the soprano has appeared with the Jacksonville Symphony, Tulsa Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, and with the San Francisco Opera, as part of the United Nations 50th Anniversary Celebration. The Houston Philharmonic, New Haven Symphony, Abilene Philharmonic, San Angelo Symphony, Abbey Road Concert Series (London), Sonora Bach Festival, and Kerrville Performing Arts Series have all featured the soprano in concerts programmed with the great standards of operatic repertoire. Art song recitals are a staple of the soprano's annual performance calendar.
The soprano was most recently seen at l'Opéra de Lyon and at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence in William Kentridge's production of Shostakovich's The Nose. In Spring 2012 the soprano returned to The Metropolitan Opera for turns in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Macbeth. Summer of 2012 will find the soprano in France, singing a recital at the Festival Lyrique de Montperreux. During the fall 2012 season at the Metopolitan, Ms. Waite will appear in the English language, "family friendly" holiday version of Il barbiere di Siviglia. The 2013-2014 season will see the soprano reprise her roles in Shostakovich's The Nose.
Ms. Waite can be heard on the Albany Press release An American Voice: The Music of Robert Nelson. Soon to be released on DVD is the soprano's performance in the new Metropolitan Opera production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, recently rebroadcast on PBS's Great Performances.