|
Acclaimed for having a voice of "true beauty" (Operawire), American contralto Davia Bouley is attracting attention from US and European audiences alike for her distinctive rich voice and her alluring stage presence. She has performed with opera companies, music festivals and in concert all over the United States and Europe, including Cincinnati Opera, Theater Dortmund, Indianapolis Opera, Isarphilharmonie München, Aspen Music Festival, Berliner Philharmonie, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, and Deutsche Oper Berlin. The 2024/2025 season begins with a debut at the Grand Teton Music Festival as Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte, under the musical direction of Sir Donald Runnicles. Other engagements include a return to Deutsche Oper Berlin for Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte, Delia in Il Viaggio a Reims, and Third Secretary in the revival of Nixon in China. In the 2023/2024 season, Davia returned to the Deutsche Oper Berlin for some exciting new productions and role debuts: Maestra delle Novizie in Suor Angelica, and Third Secretary in the Berlin operatic stage premiere of Nixon in China. She also reprised her roles as Delia in Il Viaggio a Reims and Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte. She made her concert debuts at the Alte Oper Frankfurt and the Liederhalle Stuttgart as well as a return to the Meistersingerhalle Nürnberg, Isarphilharmonie München, and the Berliner Philharmonie as Flosshilde in Der Ring an Einem Abend. In recent seasons, she made a role and house debut as Siegrune in Die Walküre with Theater Dortmund, directed by Peter Konwitschny, a return to the US as the alto soloist in Handel's Messiah with the Texas Master Chorale, return to Deutsche Oper Berlin as Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte, and a tour of concert debuts as Flosshilde in Der Ring an Einem Abend with the Weimar Staatskapelle, performing at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Isarphilharmonie München, Weimarhalle, Meistersingerhalle Nürnberg and the Berliner Philharmonie. Davia made her European debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in the 2017/18 season as the 2nd Paysanne in their new production of Meyerbeer's Le Prophète under the baton of Enrique Mazzola. She then went on to perform more roles at Deutsche Oper that season, including Zweite Dame in Das Märchen von der Zauberflöte, Delia in Il Viaggio a Reims and Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana. She has since become a regular guest soloist with the company, returning recently to perform roles including Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte, the Beggar Woman in Graham Vick’s Death in Venice alongside Ian Bostridge, and Hippolyta in a new production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, under the musical direction of Sir Donald Runnicles. Other career highlights in the US have included the title role in Carmen and Meg Page in Falstaff (Bayview Music Festival), the alto soloist in Beethoven's 9th Symphony (Round Top Music Festival), Kate Pinkerton and Suzuki (cover) in Madama Butterfly, and Little Buttercup in HMS Pinafore (Indianapolis Opera), Silver Dollar in The Ballad of Baby Doe (Amarillo Opera), Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro (Aspen Music Festival), Giovanna and Maddalena (cover) in Rigoletto and Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte (Cincinnati Opera) conducted by Bernard Labadie. As a concert soloist, Davia has performed many notable works in the alto repertoire, including Bach's Magnificat, Mozart's Requiem and Solemn Vespers, Duruflé's Requiem, Haydn's Theresienmesse, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Choral Fantasy, Debussy's Trois Chansons, and Handel's Messiah. She has also performed contemporary works such as George Crumb's Unto the Hills and Jean Berger's Five Songs on Poems of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots at the Grandin Festival. A native of Southern California, she received her Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis in Voice at Pepperdine University, under the tutelage of Henry Price. She earned her Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) as a student of Kenneth Shaw. |