West Bay Opera

Pamela Hicks

Soprano Pamela Hicks was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and was raised and educated in Los Angeles. A versatile singer whose repertoire extends over some fifty roles in opera, operetta and concert, Ms. Hicks began her singing career as an apprentice with the Santa Fe and San Diego Opera Companies, receiving the First Place Licia Albanese Prize at the latter in 1978. In 1979 she was a national winner of the New York Metropolitan Opera Auditions. Shortly afterwards she made her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as soloist in Mahler's Fourth Symphony with conductor Simon Rattle. She has appeared as soloist with the Sacramento Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, American Youth Symphony, Honolulu Symphony, Auburn Symphony, Masterworks Chorale of San Mateo, San Francisco Bach Choir, Soli Deo Gloria, the Moravian Music Festival in Winston-Salem, and in leading roles with the Miami, Wolf Trap, Mobile, San Diego and Arizona Opera Companies.

From 1981-83, Miss Hicks was resident leading soprano with the Landestheater Detmold in Germany, where she performed both opera and operetta roles, including Gilda, Micaela, Ilia in Idomeneo, Donna Elvira, Marie in The Bartered Bride, Anna-Elisa in Paganini, and the title role in Die Dubarry. She received considerable national media acclaim for her performances of the challenging role of Kitty in the German premiere of The Last Savage by Gian-Carlo Menotti, with the composer directing. She also made guest appearances in the Bielefeld and Braunschweig Theaters.

From 1984-91, Miss Hicks resided in the Boston area, where she was Artist-in-Residence with the Opera Company of Boston and a member of the voice faculty at Brandeis University.

A resident of the Bay Area since 1991, Ms. Hicks appears often as soloist with local organizations. Her performances include Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, Poulenc's Gloria, Bach's B-Minor Mass, Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, and Mozart's Requiem and Missa Brevis. She was the 1994 recipient of the Wagner Society of Northern California's career encouragment grant and has appeared in several recitals for that organization, singing the role of Sieglinde in concert performances of Die Walküre. She has also sung the roles of Desdemona and Mimì in concert, as well as the title role in Janacek's Jenufa with City Opera Theater of San Francisco, Leonora in Il trovatore with West Bay Opera, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Berkeley Opera and Maddalena in Andrea Chenier with San Francisco Lyric Opera. In 1998 she presented her first Bay Area solo song recital, and made her debut with Arizona Opera as Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus. In 1999 she made her Davies Symphony Hall debut as soprano soloist in Britten's War Requiem with the San FRancisco Choral Society, the traveled to Fort Payne, Alabama, where she presented a solo pops concert in the historic Opera House, once owned by Ms. Hicks' great-great aunt.

Ms. Hicks can be heard singing Sempre libera in The Hunter, the last film made by Steve McQueen.

19 Sep 2000