Linda
Roark-Strummer - Soprano
Career highlights have included Abigaille in NABUCCO andLucrezia in I
DUE FOSCARI with the Teatro alla Scala;
Abigaille in NABUCCO and the title role in TOSCA with the
Arena di Verona; Odabella in ATTILA and Lina in STIFFELIO
with the Teatro alla Fenice; Leonora in IL TROVATORE with
the Vienna State Opera; the title role in TOSCA, Minnie in
LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST, Odabella in ATTILA, and Herodias
in SALOME with New York City Opera; Lady Macbeth in
MACBETH with the Teatro Massimo Bellini (Catania), the
Teatro Municipal (Santiago), and L'Opéra de
Montréal;
Abigaille in NABUCCO with the Teatro Massimo Bellini, the
Teatro de Bellas Artes (Mexico City), the Teatro Colón
(Buenos Aires), the Teatro Municipal, L'Opéra de
Montréal,
the Herodiade Amphitheater (Athens), and also in Naples,
Ravenna, and Marseille; Odabella in ATTILA in Nîmes and
Nice; the title role in GIOVANNA D'ARCO in Verona; the title
role in TURANDOT with Portland Opera; the title roles in
TOSCA and JENUFA with the Opernhaus Zürich; Maddalena
de Coigny in ANDREA CHÉNIER with New Orleans Opera;
Herodias in SALOME with Kentucky Opera; and the Mother
Abbess in THE SOUND OF MUSIC with Tulsa Opera. Concert
highlights have included Abigaille in NABUCCO with the
Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall; Sieglinde in DIE
WALKÜRE with L'Orchestre Métropolitain;
Brünnhilde in
SIEGFRIED with the Nashville Symphony; the VERDI
REQUIEM with the London Philharmonic and the National
Symphony Orchestra; and Beethoven's NINTH SYMPHONY
with the Teatro alla Fenice. Ms Roark-Strummer is currently
Co-Director of LAND OF ENCHANTMENT OPERA INSTITUTE
in Gallup, New Mexico. She has also joined Marco Oswald
as a teaching assistant and has successfully produced
professional singers across Europe and North America.
In Europe, Ms. Roark Strummer has appeared at the Vienna State
Opera as Leonora
in IL TROVATORE,
and at Milan's Teatro alla Scala as Abigaille
in Nabucco (debut) and as Lucrezia in I DUE
FOSCARI. At the Arena di
Verona she was awarded the Zenatello
D'Argento award as debutante of
the
year when she first appeared as Abigaille
in NABUCCO and, as TOSCA,
she was compared by critics to the great Caniglia:
"Roark-Strummer has brought
back the character [of Tosca] in the
highest dramatic tradition (that which in her time, as a point of
reference,
Caniglia did), displaying the gifts of a profound actress by
surrendering herself
almost spasmodically to the most hidden details. Almost a revelation,
and a
personal - therefore more than legitimate - success."
Bruno
Moreschi for Verona's L'Arena.
At the Teatro alla Fenice in Venice, Ms. Roark-Strummer has appeared as
Odabella
in a new production of
ATTILA (her debut, to be followed by two subsequent re-engagements in
the same role) and as Lina in STIFFELIO. She debuted at the Teatro
Massimo Bellini in Catania as Lady
Macbeth in MACBETH, and returned
shortly thereafter as Abigaille in
NABUCCO; at the Arena de
Nîmes and the Théâtre de
l'Opéra de Nice as Odabella
in ATTILA; in Athens (at the
Herodiade Amphitheater), Bilbao, Naples, Ravenna, Trieste, and
Marseille as Abigaille
in NABUCCO; in
Verona and Brescia in the title role of GIOVANNA
D'ARCO; in Las Palmas as
Lucrezia in I DUE FOSCARI; and in London
as soprano soloist in the VERDI REQUIEM with the London Philharmonic
conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini.
In South America, she has appeared at the Teatro Colón in
Buenos
Aires,
Argentina, as Abigaille
in NABUCCO
and at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago, Chile, as both Abigaille in
NABUCCO and Lady Macbeth in MACBETH. At the
Teatro de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, she has appeared as Abigaille in
NABUCCO.
In New York, Ms. Roark-Strummer has performed at Carnegie Hall with the
Philadelphia Orchestra under Riccardo Muti as Abigaille in NABUCCO (PBS
broadcast), and with Opera Orchestra of New York under Eve Queler as
Krasava in Smetana's LIBUSE (PBS broadcast). With New York City Opera,
she has appeared as Odabella in ATTILA (NYCO debut / with Samuel Ramey,
conducted
by Christopher Keene); again as Odabella in ATTILA and a return
engagement
(with John Cheek); in the title role of TOSCA;
as Minnie
in LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST;
as Fata Morgana in the Corsaro/Sendack production of Prokofiev's THE
LOVE FOR THREE ORANGES; as Katisha
in
the highly acclaimed Jonathan Miller production of THE MIKADO; and as
the Witch
in HANSEL AND GRETEL.
Elsewhere in North America and abroad, she has appeared as Abigaille in
NABUCCO with L'Opéra de Montréal, Opera Hamilton,
Manitoba Opera, Calgary Opera, Vancouver Opera, Edmonton Opera,
Milwaukee's Florentine Opera, Connecticut Opera, Opera Columbus, and
Baltimore Opera; as Lady Macbeth in MACBETH with Opera Columbus, New
Orleans Opera, L'Opéra de Montréal, Opera
Hamilton, and
Manitoba Opera; as Lucrezia in I DUE FOSCARI with Opera
Hamilton (to be followed by a subsequent re-engagement in the same
role);
as Leonora
in IL TROVATORE with
Florentine Opera, Calgary Opera, and Landestheater Linz; as Leonora in
LA FORZA DEL DESTINO with Landestheater
Linz; in the title role of TURANDOT with Portland Opera; in the title
role of TOSCA with Atlanta
Opera, New Orleans Opera, Florentine Opera, Manitoba Opera, and the
Opernhaus
Zürich (conducted by Nello Santi); in the title role of NORMA
with
Opera Hamilton;
in the title role of ARIADNE AUF NAXOS with Florentine Opera; as Maddalena
de Coigny in ANDREA
CHÉNIER with New Orleans Opera and Florentine Opera; as Mère Marie
in LES DIALOGUES DES
CARMÉLITES with Portland Opera and Landestheater Linz; as Donna Elvira
in DON GIOVANNI with
Orlando Opera and Landestheater Linz; as Minnie
in LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST with Tulsa Opera and Landestheater Linz; and
in the title role of JENUFA with the Opernhaus Zürich
(conducted
by Christian Thielemann).
Concert engagements in North America and abroad have included the VERDI
REQUIEM with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C. and at
Wolf
Trap, and also with the Festival de Lanaudier under Semyon Veckstein
(CBC
broadcast); the MOZART REQUIEM with the Österreichisches
Rundfunkorchester
(ORF); the BRAHMS REQUIEM with the ORF (with bass soloist Karl
Ridderbusch); BEETHOVEN'S NINTH SYMPHONY with the Bruckner Orchestra
and
with the Teatro alla Fenice Orchestra under Eliyau Inbal; Abigaille in
NABUCCO with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Riccardo Muti at
Philadelphia's Academy of Music (PBS broadcast); Haydn's
KRÖNUNGS
MESSE and
LORD NELSON MASS, Mozart's EXULTATE JUBILATE, and CARMINA BURANA with
the
Bruckner Orchestra; Sieglinde in DIE WALKÜRE with the West
Virginia
Symphony and with Montreal's L'Orchestre Métropolitain du
Grand
Montréal; a
role-debut as Brünnhilde in SIEGFRIED with the Nashville
Symphony;
Lady
Macbeth in MACBETH with Boston's Chorus pro Musica; and OPERA GALA
appearances with L'Opéra de Montréal and with
Edmonton
Opera (in honor of
Irving Guttman).
During the formative years of her career, Ms. Roark-Strummer thrived in
the
lyric soprano and lyric coloratura soprano repertoire. Some highlights
included the title role in ARABELLA with Landestheater Linz; the
Marschallin in DER ROSENKAVALIER with the Santa Barbara Academy of
Music;
the Countess in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO with Western Opera Theater;
Fiordiligi
in COSÌ FAN TUTTE with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis,
Städtische Bühnen
Heidelberg, and Landstheater Linz; Micaela in CARMEN with Landestheater
Linz; Adina in L'ELISIR D'AMORE with Städtische
Bühnen
Heidelberg and
Landstheater Linz; Lauretta in GIANNI SCHICCHI with Städtische
Bühnen
Heidelberg; Anne Trulove in THE RAKE'S PROGRESS with
Städtische
Bühnen
Krefeld & Mönchengladbach and Landestheater Linz;
Titania in A
MIDSUMMER
NIGHT'S DREAM with Landestheater Salzburg and Landestheater Linz; and
Saffi
in DER ZIGEUNERBARON with Landestheater Linz.
Among the conductors with whom she has performed are Kurt Herbert
Adler, David Agler, Spiros Argiris, John Bell, Karl Böhm,
Boncompanie, Richard
Bonynge, Christian Thielemann, Thomas Conlin, Serge Commissione, Anton
Coppola, John Demaine, Plácido Domingo, David Effron, Kurt
Eichorn, Arthur
Fagen, Gabriele Ferro, Thomas Fulton, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Carlo Maria
Giulini, Manfred Graff, Bohomil Gregor, Anton Guadagno, Theodor
Guschelbauer, Eliahu Inbal, Ingo Ingensand, Christopher Keene, Konrad
Leitner, Raymond Leppard, Daniel Lipton, Riccardo Muti, Daniel Oren,
George
Manahan, Gerry Steichen, Nello Santi, Pinchus Steinberg, Alfredo
Silipigni,
Roman Zeilinger, Ernst Dunshirn, Joseph Rescigno, Fred Scott, Louis
Salemno, Julius Rudel, Marcello Panni, John Moriarty, Christopher
Mactasoris, Manfred Mayerhofer, Edoardo Müller, Eve Queler,
Jeffrey Rink,
Charles Rosekranz, Louis Salemno, Gerhard Schaeffer, Kenneth
Schermerhorn,
Alessandro Siciliani, Calvin Simmons, Hubert Soudant, David Spears,
Ottmar
Suitner, Christian Süss, Emil Tchakarov, Silvio Varviso,
Semyon
Veckstein,
Michelangelo Veltri, William Anthony Waters, Johannes Wetzler, and
Roman Zeilinger.
Among the stage directors with whom she has collaborated are Daniele
Abbado, Christopher Alden, Ronald Bentley, Frank Corsaro, Roberto de
Simone, James DeBlasis, Brian Deedrick, Gian Carlo del Monaco, Dan
Demenyanuk, Gian
Franco Di Bosio, David Edwards, Michael Esser, David Gately, Lou
Gualterio, Irving
Guttman, Gita Hager, Bodo Igez, Ian Judge, Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Jay
Lessinger, Antonello Madau Diaz, Lotfi Mansouri, Fabrizio Melano, David
Morlock, Christopher Nelson, Patricia Panton, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Dr.
Günter
Rennert, David Ritch, James Robinson, Vittorio Rossi, Ernst
Sagemüller,
Ellen Schläffer, Arnold Schönolt, Luigi Squarzina,
Alfred
Stögmüller, Jan
Strassvogel, Michael Tannenbaum, Michael Temme, Bernard Uzan, and Marc
Verzatt.
Ms. Roak-Strummer as Lucrezia in the Teatro alla Scala production of I
DUE FOSCARI is available on commercial video as part of the RAI La
Scala series
of live performances. She has appeared on film as Anne Trulove in THE
RAKE'S PROGRESS for Austia's ORF, and as Odabella in the Teatro alla
Fenice
production of ATTILA for RAI Italy. In the United States, she has
filmed
the title role in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS for PBS, and Abigaille in NABUCCO
for
Canada's CBC TV. At the Teatro de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, her
performance of Abigaille in NABUCCO was filmed for Mexican television.
Linda Roark-Strummer began her professional career with Western Opera
Theater, and appeared with San Francisco Opera and Opera Theatre of
Saint Louis before joining the roster of Germany's Städtische
Bühnen Heidelberg, and Austria's Landestheater Linz. A native
of
Tulsa, Oklahoma, Ms.
Roark-Strummer is a graduate of Tulsa University, and attended the
graduate-studies program at Southern Methodist University in Dallas,
Texas.
She is the recipient of grants from both the Martha Baird Rockefeller
Foundation and the National Opera Institute. She lives with her
husband, bass-baritone Peter Strummer, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
last update: 9/5/11
bio credit: Rick Lusby