West Bay Opera

Karen Frankenstein

American soprano Karen Frankenstein returns to West Bay Opera as Mimì, after winning critical acclaim for her recent performance as Marguerite in Faust. She was awarded the Grand Prix Opéra in the Paris International Competition of Singing last June, just after making her West Bay Opera debut as Antonia and the voice of Stella in Tales of Hoffmann. Her previous operatic roles include Greta Fiorentino in Kurt Weill's Street Scene and Adèle in Die Fledermaus with Central City Opera, as well as Norina in Don Pasquale, Alexandra in Marc Blitzstein's Regina, and Blonde in The Abduction from the Seraglio with the Bronx Opera Company.

Ms. Frankenstein was selected as a finalist in both the distinguished Joy in Singing Song Competition in New York City and the Chicago Lyric Opera Center for American Artists 2000 Auditions. In 1999, she was one of a select group of international finalists in the Fredrich Schorr Memorial Performance Prize in Voice Competition. She was the soprano soloist in the Mozart Requiem with the Mineola Choral Society, and appeared last summer in the Concerts in the Parks series in New York. She will be performing Gilda in France this summer with the Festival Lyrique de Belle-Île en Mer.

Ms. Frankenstein is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and is an alumna of the young artist programs at Virginia Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and the Tanglewood Music Center. Ms. Frankenstein particularly enjoys concert and oratorio work, and has given recitals in locales ranging from Hong Kong to New York.

4 May 2002