b i o g r a p h yr e p e r t o i r er
e v i e w sw e b s i t ewrite to ManagerShannon Mercer, soprano
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b i o g r a p h yr e p e r t o i r er
e v i e w sw e b s i t ewrite to Manager |
Shannon Mercer, soprano |
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b i o g r a p h y...........back to roster....up June 2012 "Her soprano is bright and agile, and she uses vibrato and ornamentation vividly to extract telling nuances from words and music. Mercer brings equal expressive vibrancy to the amorous, hedonistic and sorrowful feelings in these delectable pieces." (Gramophone) With a soprano voice often described as luminous and dazzling, Canadian Shannon Mercer is equally praised for her profound yet witty acting ability and stage presence. An artist of uncommon musical artistry whose passion for her artform embraces repertoire ranging from early to contemporary music, Shannon maintains a challenging balance of opera, concert and recital appearances. During 2012-13, Shannon Mercer can be heard again with many of her favorite orchestras. She sings Bach’s B minor Mass with the National Symphony of Mexico, repeating the work later with the Vancouver Chamber Choir. She offers Mozart arias with the Edmonton Symphony before performing Messiah with the Calgary Philharmonic and Seattle Symphony. Other presenters include Ottawa Choral Society (Christmas Oratorio), Early Music Vancouver and several concerts with Les Violons du Roy (Bach’s Lutheran Masses). Shannon’s 2011-2012 seasons began in her hometown of Ottawa with JUNO partners Ensemble Caprice in a concert performance of their highly acclaimed recording collaboration Salsa Baroque which blends the music of Latin America and Spain of the 17th and 18th centuries. Shannon then joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in a program of opera arias as they embarked on an educational tour to Sault Ste-Marie and Sudbury. She appeared in Montreal several times throughout the season: in October to celebrate the grand opening of the Bourgie Concert Hall in Montreal’s Musée des beaux-arts, in January once again with Ensemble Caprice for the Magnificats by both J.S. Bach and Arvo Pärt, and in April for Scarlatti’s Stabat Mater with Les Violons du Roy and a concert with McGill’s Baroque Orchestra. Engagements in the US included a West-Coast tour with Les Voix Baroques, Handel’s Messiah with Mercury Baroque in Houston, Carissimi Oratorios with Pacific Musicworks, Mozart’s Requiem with the Utah Symphony Orchestra, and Early Handel Cantatas with Tragicomedia in Boston and New York. Other appearances included Bach Cantatas with Early Music Vancouver, a celebration of chanson by Gabriel Fauré with the Aldeburgh Connection in Toronto, a Christmas concert with Thirteen Strings in Ottawa, and two concerts at Toronto’s Koerner Hall: in Elgar’s The Kingdom with the Pax Christi Chorale and in Poulenc’s Gloria with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Overseas she sang Bach’s B minor Mass with the National Symphony of Mexico. Particularly praised for her performances of contemporary music, Shannon reprised her role in Ana Sokolovic’s Svadba (The Wedding) for The Queen of Puddings Music Theatre at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre and debuts in John Beckwith’s opera Crazy to Kill at the Enwave Theatre also in Toronto. Last season featured a tour in Canada of Ana Sokolovic’s Love Songs, a one-woman virtuosic tour-de-force opera produced by The Queen of Puddings Music Theatre which met with enthusiastic response at the 2010 Holland Festival, Bach’s St. John Passion with the Arion Baroque Orchestra (recorded by ATMA), as well as the same work with the Portland Baroque Orchestra in Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. She performed throughout the season with Les Voix Baroques, including a concert in Québec City for the Festival des Musiques Sacrées and on her inaugural tour of Colombia, sang Mozart’s Requiem with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Vivaldi’s Montezuma with Mercury Baroque in Houston, and a special Young People’s concert entitled The Bear with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. The role of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte has figured prominently on Shannon’s recent calendar, having performed it with Opera Lyra Ottawa, Opera Hamilton, and with Pacific Opera in both Victoria and London: "Shannon Mercer’s Pamina is tender, guileless and, in her moments of anguish, deeply moving" (Victoria Times Colonist). Other recent opera roles include Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte with the Canadian Opera Company and her much-lauded French debut in the title role of Marin Marais’s Sémélé which was recorded as part of the renowned Hérve Niquet/Le Concert Spirituel trilogy of tragédie lyriques on Glossa: "Mercer’s Semele seduces" (BBC Music Magazine). An avid concert and recital artist, recent engagements include performances at Carnegie Hall in New York for Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Les Violons du Roy, Roy Thomson Hall with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for Handel’s Messiah and concerts at the TSO’s Mozart@254 Festival, Luc Beausejour’s Clavecin en Concert, Generation Purcell in Houston with Mercury Baroque and Les Voix Baroques. She has also appeared in Handel’s Israël en Égypte with Les Violons du Roy in Montréal and Québec City, debuted at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center in an all-Mozart recital featuring renowned American soprano Barbara Bonney, performed at the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival. Shannon has performed in recital with Music Toronto for The Discovery Series, the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto, the Aldeburgh Connection at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto. Shannon recalls her Welsh roots in a highly-popular program of traditional Welsh songs in new arrangements called Wales ~ Land of Song with Skye Consort which was recorded by Analekta in 2009. Shannon’s award-winning discography includes her new release, Salsa Baroque with Ensemble Caprice (Analekta) and the Prix Opus nominated O Viva Rosa (Analekta), one of the first recordings entirely devoted to Francesca Caccini which critics across the world have praised "a gorgeous performance" (Globe and Mail), "a wide range of colour, expression and subtly thrilling trills" (Gramophone), "impeccable craft, brilliant voice, affecting emotion and tasteful ornamentation" (Toronto Star), "one of the finest discs I have heard in a long while" (Musical Criticism). Shannon’s other recordings include Wales ~ The Land of Song, the 2009 JUNO Award-winning Gloria!: Vivaldi’s Angels, JUNO-nominated Bach and the Liturgical Year, Mondonville, English Fancy (Analekta) and Marin Marais’s Sémélé (Glossa). As testament to her love of contemporary opera, Shannon can be heard in two of renowned Canadian composer Alexina Louie’s comic operas: in the DVD of Gemini-nominated Burnt Toast, an 8-vignette series directed by Larry Weinstein and as Minister Blais Grenier in Mulroney: The Opera which premiered in movie theatres across Canada in April 2011. A hit in movie theatres across Europe, Shannon also stars as Judith in the film version of Monty Python funny-man Eric Idle’s Not the Messiah, a role she debuted in the world premiere at Toronto’s 2007 Luminato Festival and at the Caramoor Festival and subsequently reprised in a US tour to Houston, Washington, and Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl in the summer and at London’s famed Royal Albert Hall. An alumnus of San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Merola Opera Summer Program, Shannon began her operatic career as a member of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio Program. She has since gone on to perform on stages across North America and Europe. In July 2006 Shannon made her London debut under the auspices of the ROH Covent Garden in the highly praised production of The Midnight Court with Toronto’s Queen of Puddings Music Theatre. A Career Development Grant from the Canada Council for the Arts and winner of the 2004 Bernard Diamant Prize, allowed Shannon to spend an extended period of time in Vienna where she studied German operatic repertoire with renowned voice coach Margaret Singer. She also received the Virginia Parker Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto Career Development Award. A native of Ottawa, Shannon Mercer now resides in Toronto.
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r e p e r t o i r e...........back to roster....up
Orchestra
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r e v i e w s...........back to roster....up
Bach’s St. John Passion with the Portland Baroque Orchestra Soprano Shannon Mercer sings with a clear, attractive voice […]” (The Oregonian, 26 December 2011) Bach’s Cantata BWV 52 with Early Music Vancouver Shannon Mercer brought her clear tone, flawless intonation and considerable, interpretative gifts to the Cantata BWV 52.” (The Vancouver Sun, 22 December 2012)
Bach's St. John Passion in Portland with Les Voix Baroques and the Portland Baroque Orchestra "Ich folge dir gelichfalls was another vocal/instrumental duet, this time between Huggett and soprano Shannon Mercer. It was joyous and spritely, requiring fantastically tricky entrances from both performers. Mercer's diction was glorious and pure and the great power of her voice was unforced, tinged with delicate grace, ringing through the hall and yet feeling somehow as though one were hearing it from inside one's own head." (Oregon Music News, 14 March 2011) "Soprano Shannon Mercer and alto Matthew White (in an exquisite duet with Joanna Blendulf on gamba) made their final desolate arias heartbreaking high points." (The Oregonian, 13 March 2011) A "Musical Banquet" - in recital with Luc Beauséjour for Early Music Voices in Calgary "She was able to enchant the audience at Christ Church....Mercer was at her melting best here, especially in the wonderful Schlummert ein, an aria to melt the heart every time it is sung." (Calgary Herald, 16 November 2010) In Concert with Tafelmusik in Toronto "Shannon Mercer [has] a gorgeous, warm, flexible and vibrato-free voice that she manipulates with a master's confidence and musical acumen. In Fra queste ombrose piante, (Under Those Shady Trees), a solo cantata by Conti, Mercer rendered every emotional nuance with conviction. She was also expressive and luminous in a suite from Handel's Il pastor fido (The Faithful Shepherd) that alternated instrumental dances with solo arias." (Toronto Star, 23 September 2010)
'Brilliant' with Les Voix Baroques at Music at Sharon "Soprano Shannon Mercer - singing better than I'd yet heard her - was the bright, supportive angel… a brilliant Filia ranging with skill and passion from the exuberant vivacity of Filia's first glad daughterly greeting to the tragic lamentation of her inevitable doom." (Globe and Mail, 5 July 2010) Mozart@254 concert with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Peter Oundjian "Toronto singer Shannon Mercer has a rare combination of a pure, lyric soprano voice coupled with enough power to fill a large hall. On top of that, she deftly shaped the dramatic arc of this profession of undying love." (Toronto Star, 4 January 2010) Rave reviews for Shannon's Messiah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra "The standout was soprano Shannon Mercer, who not only has a luminous lyric voice, but who sings every word as if she truly means it. She made us want to rejoice greatly, and we were convinced that her redeemer really is alive. The size and acoustics of Roy Thomson Hall are not kind to the smaller, more lithe voices that are best at singing 18th century music, but Mercer fully overcame these obstacles." (Toronto Star, 17 December 2009) "Feathery-voiced soprano Shannon Mercer and honey, warm mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó were their usual excellent selves." (Classical96.3, 20 December 2009) Not the Messiah at London's Royal Albert Hall "The two Americans from the original cast, Shannon Mercer as Judith and William Ferguson as Brian bringing the house down in their Amourdeus duet and bringing lyrical beauty to their duet in The Final Song." (View London, 26 October 2009) "An operatic sex scene makes the form fit the content, is brilliantly performed by Shannon Mercer and William Ferguson (as Brian), and gets the ovation it deserves." (Times, October 24 2009) Shannon wows once again as Pamina in Opera Lyra Ottawa's The Magic Flute "Ottawa soprano Shannon Mercer sang Pamina, Tamino's beloved. Along with her beautiful singing, she brought an interpretation to the role that suggested that she would be an ideal spouse for Tamino. The two of them, along with flutist Joanna G'froerer, created a sense of high seriousness, almost sacredness, in the fire and water scene. In this production, the scene was the emotional climax of the opera." (Ottawa Citizen, 14 September 2009)
2008-2009 Purcell's The Faerie Queene with Early Music Vancouver and MusicFest Vancouver "Mercer was clear as a bell in tone, diction and rhythm, and straightforward in interpretation. Her ornamentation was fleet and precise; it also had a vital, filliping definition. Happiness was Mercer's forte, and her performance did not need to be complicated." (Globe and Mail, 10 August 2009) Shannon Mercer brings her Pamina to Victoria "Probably the evening's highlight, though, was Shannon Mercer's achingly beautiful performance of Pamina's Ach, ich fühl's, es ist verschwunden. Ms Mercer had been impressive even up to that point but this convinced the audience that she was much more than the typical 'Damsel-in-distress.'" (Review Vancouver, April 2009) "Shannon Mercer's Pamina is tender, guileless and, in her moments of anguish, deeply moving." (Victoria Times Colonist, 18 April 2009) "Soprano Shannon Mercer beautifully expressed the shifting emotions of Pamina, a damsel in some distress..." (Monday Magazine, 23-29 April 2009) As Constanza in the Queen of Puddings world premiere of Inês "Constanza, played by soprano Shannon Mercer, attacked notes with a delicious lightness and a pure, tuned clarity that made it seem like a heavenly light beamed upon her every time she opened her mouth." (Live Music Report, 25 February 2009) Shannon "a lovely Pamina, often touching" in The Magic Flute "The lead singers and the music itself were the saving of the evening. Soprano Shannon Mercer and tenor Colin Ainsworth were handsome and vocally appealing as the Princess Pamina and the Prince Tamino, the lovers elevated to a nominal wisdom by their fidelity and courage." (Globe and Mail, 1 November 2008) "Indeed, there was much to smile about in Opera Hamilton's production. First and foremost, the singing. How Toronto soprano Shannon Mercer has blossomed since she last sang here five years ago. Beautiful tone, pure and steady, she was a delight in Pamina's plangent aria, Ach, ich fuhl's." (Hamilton Spectator, 1 November 2008) 2007-2008 US Tour of Eric Idle's Not the Messiah "The duet for Brian and Judith as they are having sex made the simulated orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally seem like a weak test run. Soprano Shannon Mercer and tenor William Ferguson moaned and yelled with increasingly hysterical abandon - all in good Baroque form, you understand." (Houston Chronicle, 18 July 2008) "Shannon Mercer, a shining soprano, was Brian's vocally flexible girlfriend." (LA Times, 4 August 2008) Shannon "soaring beautifully" with Tafemusik "The best singers in the quartet were Mercer and Ainsworth. Both have bright voices, with fine intonation and an impressive palette of vocal colours at their disposal." (Tafelmusik - Globe and Mail, 10 May 2008) "The soloists were a treat: soprano Shannon Mercer, her lovely lyric voice soaring beautifully through Haydn's demanding musical ornaments" (Tafelmusik - Toronto Star, 8 May 2008) "Breathtaking" in Nova Scotia "To tell the truth, it was a breathtaking experience... Shannon Mercer, the guest soloist for the afternoon, is a baroque soprano with a voice designed to express the warmth of baroque vocal music in its mid-range as well as the lightness and ice-cracking purity of its highest notes. Mercer sang two contrasting arias from Tamerlano and then returned on the second half to sing three of Henry Purcell's weepiest arias, with heart-rending conviction. Few composers, even given, as here, the right voice, orchestra and conductor, weep as convincingly as Purcell in Fairest Isle (King Arthur), When I Am Laid in Earth (Dido and Aeneas), and the queen of heartbreakers, O Let Me Weep, Forever Weep (The Fairy Queen). Mallon, a truly inspired programmer as well as conductor, wove these arias and the superb Shannon in between movements from Purcell's The Gordian Knot - An Overture, Aire, Minuett and Chacone. Very clever, and very effective." (The Chronicle Herald, 14 April 2008) In Recital with the Women's Musical Club of Toronto "The program, which ranged from a Mozart concert aria to Claude Vivier, announced an independent and curious mind: There was plenty of repertoire - six ariettas by Bellini; songs by William Walton and Vivier's Hymnen an die Nacht - that rarely gets aired. Mercer approached it all with a fine ear for detail and vocal colour, a fiery temperament and a ready wit. You felt the power of her glowing instrument." (Tamara Bernstein, Globe and Mail, 8 March 2008) Shannon 'brilliant' in Handel's Tamerlano The biggest surprise was soprano Shannon Mercer as Asteria. She is a very fine singer, but in this role she showed such brilliant acting skills and breath control in the way she used her voice, that she upgraded for me to great singer. (Classical 96.3, February 2008) Bach Cantatas with Early Music Vancouver "Shannon Mercer has a fresh, flexible voice, very considerable charm and, even for church music, a certain sexiness." (Vancouver Sun, 4 December 2007) In "golden voice" for Baroque Consort recital "Mercer's voice rang out beautifully in the near-ideal acoustics of St. Giles...her finest moments were in two arias by Johann Krieger. Mercer was sensitive to the nuances of the music and text and avoided the common trap of using the dramatic conventions of later opera. And what a sound she has...the church was filled with Mercer's golden voice." (Ottawa Citizen, 4 November 2007) |
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