Possessing an exciting versatility that is equally at home on opera, concert and recital stages, Serena Benedetti’s voice has been heralded as “a pure-toned soprano that soared radiantly in the high climaxes.” Debuts for the 2011 season included the Ludwig van Beethoven Festival in Warsaw, Poland, where Benedetti presented a recital of Richard Strauss lieder with acclaimed pianist JJ Penna, as well as the role of Frantik in The New York Philharmonic’s production of Janacek’s THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN conducted by Alan Gilbert. In New York she has also given recitals at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall and with the Chelsea Symphony, in repertoire ranging from Mozart and Debussy to Schönberg. Other concert highlights have included performances of Brahms Requiem and Orff Carmina Burana with Southwest Florida Symphony, Handel Messiah with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and Barber Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and Mahler Symphony No.4 with Eroica Ensemble, Memphis, Tennessee. She performed these works with New York’s Chelsea Symphony at Bargemusic, for which The New York Times praised her, “warmly lyrical performance of Barber’s ‘Knoxville: Summer of 1915′, a lissome, sweetly sung account.”
Winner of a Marian Anderson Career Grant for Emerging Classical Artists, highlights of her operatic appearances have included Susanna in Mozart LE NOZZE DI FIGARO with the Sarasota Opera, Musetta LA BOHÈME with the Palm Beach Opera, Fiordiligi COSÌ FAN TUTE with the Utah Symphony and Opera, Violetta LA TRAVIATA with the Lake Placid Sinfonietta, Marzelline FIDELIO with Virginia Opera, and others. At Lyric Opera Cleveland, her Adina L’ELISIR D’AMORE was pronounced by Opera News, “the evening’s highlight, fulfilling the letter and the spirit of bel canto.” She joined the roster of the New York City Opera for the 2006 season.
Concert highlights have included her debut at Carnegie Hall in Handel Messiah under the baton of John Rutter. Other Carnegie Hall performances include those with the New York Oratorio Society and MidAmerica Productions, in repertoire ranging from Vivaldi to Mendelssohn. She has been a repeat favorite of the Sacred Music in a Sacred Space Series at St. Ignatius Loyola in New York with Kent Tritle. She has performed there the CPE Bach Magnificat, St. John Passion of J.S. Bach, Massenet La Terre Promise and Gounod Tobie, including other works. She has also appeared with the National Symphony, Danish Radio Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Eugene Symphony, the National Cathedral Choir, Greater Palm Beach Symphony Society, Lancaster Symphony, Garden State Symphony, the Princeton Symphony, and others. She has collaborated with legendary artist Dave Brubeck in his oratorio, La Fiesta de la Posada.
Recital/chamber work has included the Lyric Chamber Music Festival at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Maverick Music Festival, the Songfest Series (Princeton, NJ), in venues including The National Cathedral in Washington, DC, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York, and Detroit Symphony Hall. She has collaborated with members of the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, and with pianists JJ Penna and Brian Zeger. Recital/chamber works have included Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, the Simple Songs of Aaron Jay Kernis, the Brentano Lieder (Op. 68) of Richard Strauss, Schubert Shepherd on the Rock, and works by 20th Century composers, including David Del Tredici, William Bolcom, Ricky Ian Gordon, Lee Hoiby and Stephen Sondheim.
Ms. Benedetti began singing as a member of the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus, where she appeared in HANSEL UND GRETEL, LA BOHÈME, MACBETH, LE ROSSIGNOL and WERTHER.
