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MARY BURKE BARBER, OPERA SINGER
BIOGRAPHY
Hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mary Burke Barber, “reveals [her] powerfully rich voice of regal warmth and strength” (critic Patrick D. McCoy). She has performed internationally, having made her debut with the Singapore Lyric Opera Orchestra in 2015. Mary made her operatic debut as Hänsel in Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel with the Peabody Opera Department in 2016. She has since performed the roles of Chérubin (Chérubin, 2018), Drei Knabe (Die Zauberflöte, 2021) and reprised Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel, 2021).
This upcoming Winter Season 2024, Mary will return to Sarasota Opera as a Studio Artist, participating in the productions of Georges Bizet’s Carmen and Joseph Haydn’s L’infedelta Delusa. The Winter of 2023, Mary joined Sarasota Opera as an Apprentice Artist. The Fall of 2022, she joined the Westminster Opera Theater at Rider University as a guest artist to perform the role of Barigoule in a production of Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon. The Summer of 2022 brought Mary to Vienna, Austria to participate in the Vienna Summer Music Festival. There, she performed the role of Zerlina in W. A. Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and covered the role of Cherubino in W. A. Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro.
In 2023, Mary was awarded the Sarasota Opera Guild Ann J. O’Donnell Award for Outstanding Apprentice Artist. Additionally, she competed as a semi-finalist in the Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition. In 2022, Mary received second place in the NATS Eastern Region Student Auditions (Advanced Level) and a Finalist in the MIOpera Competition. In 2021, she was a finalist in the inaugural Century Opera Competition, awarded first place in the Philadelphia Regional Round of the NATS Student Auditions, and second place in the Vienna Summer Music Festival Competition.
Mary began her musical studies at the Peabody Institute of Music in Baltimore, Maryland under the care of Phyllis Bryn-Julson. During her undergraduate studies, she completed a joint degree with the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore, under the direction of Alan Bennett. She completed her master's degree at Peabody under the tutelage of Denyce Graves-Montgomery and Margaret Baroody in the Spring of 2018.
VIDEO RECORDINGS
C’EST L’AMOUR (THE VIOLIN ARIA)
Jacques Offenbach
Nicklausse’s Aria from Les Contes d’Hoffmann
O PALLIDA, CHE UN GIORNO MI GUARDASTI
Pietro Mascagni
Beppe’s Aria from L’amico Fritz
THIS JOURNEY
Jake Heggie
Sister Helen Prejean’s Aria from Dead Man Walking
WIE DU WARST
Richard Strauss
Octavian's opening aria from Der Rosenkavalier
VA! LAISSE COULER MES LARMES
Jules Massenet
Charlotte’s Aria from Werther
GALLERY
Heather Chesky Photography
Photography by Helen Hendricks
Heather Chesky Photography
Vienna Summer Music Festival
Matt Mendelsohn Creative
Madeleine Gray Photography
Matt Mendelsohn Creative
Vienna Summer Music Festival
Photography by Matt Mendelsohn
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory
UPCOMING EVENTS
SARASOTA OPERA WINTER SEASON 2024
Covering roles in Georges Bizet's Carmen and Joseph Haydn's L'infedeltà delusa; Chorus in Georges Bizet's Carmen.
PREVIOUS ENGAGEMENTS
IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT
September 30, 2023
The Denyce Graves Foundation’s Shared Voices Symposium offers a panel, led by Ryan Taylor, to discuss navigating the industry as emerging artists.
THE MILDRED MILLER INTERNATIONAL VOICE COMPETITION 2023
September 23, 2023
Finalist in the Pittsburgh Festival Opera's The Mildred Miller International Voice Competition 2023.
SARASOTA OPERA WINTER SEASON 2023
January 11, 2023 - March 26, 2023
Performances of Madama Butterfly, Don Giovanni, Ernani, and Thérèse, along with Apprentice Artist Operatic Scenes Concerts.
THE DENYCE GRAVES FOUNDATION LAUNCH OF SHARED VOICES
September 30, 2022
Please visit https://www.thedenycegravesfoundation.org/sharedvoices for more information on the Shared Voices Program.
DON GIOVANNI
July 15, 2022
Mary Burke Barber performs the role of Zerlina in W. A. Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Vienna Summer Music Festival.