|
 Flora Mendoza began her career in classical music as a chorus member of the New York Metropolitan Opera. She was later selected to study at the National High School Music Institute at Northwestern University, the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and the Conservatorio D’Andrea in Buenos Aires. Flora pursued her undergraduate studies at Yale University, where she was later selected by audition to become the youngest student to ever study in the School of Music under the renowned Contralto, Lili Chookasian. As a member of the Opera Theater of Yale College and the Yale Baroque Opera Project, sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Flora interpreted the roles of Le Journaliste in Les mamelles de Tiresias, Polly in The Beggar’s Opera, Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, a staged version of Menteverdi’s madrigals, and the alto solos in several oratorios. After graduation, Flora trained at the Bel Canto Institute in Florence, where she gave a concert performance of the Angelina’s arias in La Cenerentola and later, using the acquired repertoire, won the Galli-Campi Grand Prize Award for best Coloratura at the 2009 annual Opera Theater of Connecticut Vocal Competition.
Flora now resides in New York City, where she quickly established herself with the local companies. Roles performed include Sesto in La Clemenza di Tito and Nireno and Sesto in Giulio Cesare with the Manhattan Chamber Opera. She won the College division at the Harlem Opera Theater Vocal Competition in 2008. As a classically trained actor and dancer from the New York area, she captured the attention of a number of people impressed with her musicality and mastery of multiple artistic mediums. This led to her admission to the Hemispheric New York Emerging Artists Program at the Tisch School of the Arts – New York University.
As a tribute to her dual Mexican and Spanish heritage, Flora is a committed performer of Iberian and Latin American Zarzuela and Art Song. She has been commissioned to perform these exciting art forms at various events and venues throughout the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Argentina. Through the support of the Ford and Rockefeller Foundation, Flora was a featured soloist at the seventh biannual Encuentro of the Hemispheric Institute of Performance in Bogotá, Colombia.
ROLES PERFORMED
SESTO, La Clemenza di Tito, Manhattan Chamber Opera, 2008
NIRENO, Giulio Cesare, Manhattan Chamber Opera, 2008
SESTO, Giulo Cesare, Manhattan Chamber Opera, 2008
CHERUBINO, Le nozze di Figaro, Opera Theater Company of Yale, 2007
DORABELLA, Cosi fan tutte, Opera Theater Company of Yale, 2007
POLLY, The Beggar's Opera, Whitney Humanities Center, 2007
LE JOURNALISTE, Les Mamelles de Tiresias, Opera Theater of Yale, 2006
MAD MARGARET, Ruddigore, Miss Porter's School, 2004
MARIA, West Side Story, Tanglewood Institute, 2003
MARCELLINA, Le nozze di Figaro, Miss Porter’s School, 2003
ORATORIO AND CONCERT APPEARANCES AS A SOLOIST
South American Art Song, Various Composers, Nat. University of Colombia, August 2009
Bel Canto Songs, Various Composers, Columbia University, February 2009
Oratorios, Various Composers, Columbia University, January 2009
ˇAnda Jaleo!: Songs of Spain & Argentina., Various Composers, Yale University, March 2008
German Lieder, Various Composers, Conservatorio D’ Andrea, June 2007
French Chanson & Works by Barber, Yale University, February 2006
Messiah, Handel, Hartford Cathedral, 2004
ENSEMBLE EXPERIENCE
National Public Radio, New York Metropolitan Opera, 2000
The Today Show, NBC Holiday Special, 2000
Mefistofele, New York Metropolitan Opera - Mark Elder Conducting, 2000
Otello, New York Metropolitan Opera – James Levine Conducting, 2000
Nachtlied, Tanglewood Institute – Seiji Ozawa Conducting, 2003
The Early Show, CBS Holiday Special with the New York Metropolitan Opera, 2007
MUSICAL TRAINING
Voice Teachers: Lili Chookasian, Valerie Sorel, Mary Elizabeth Poore, Phyllis Hoffman, Theresa BranCaccio,
Denise Walker, Sylma Pagán, Elena Doria, Diana Arzoumanian.
Voice Coaches: Eric Trudel, Jane Klaviter, Robert Morrison, Richard Lalli, Joana Pons, and Sara Kohane.
Master Classes: Marilyn Horne, Phyllis Curtain, Osceola Davis, and Joan Pons.
Conductors: James Levine, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Neville Mariner, Sir David Willcocks, Mark Elder, and Krzysztof
Penderecki.
EDUCATION
BA in Voice Performance – Yale University School of Music 2008; Bel Canto Institute (Florence, Italy) 2008; Conservatorio D’Andrea (Buenos Aires, Argentina) 2007; Tanglewood Institute (Boston University) 2003.
AWARDS
Grand Prize Winner: Opera Theater of Connecticut Amici Vocal Competition Amri Galli-Campi Award – Best Coloratura, 2009; 2nd Place: Harlem Opera Theater Vocal Competition, 2008; Michael Manzella Prize for the Arts, Carolyn & H. Bradford Westerfield Memorial Fund Scholarship for the Arts, World Performance Project Grant – Sudler Fund for the Arts, 2008; Yale School of Music Undergraduate Scholarship, 2005-07; 1st Place: Filene Music Scholarship Competition, 2004; Fritzinger Scholarship for the Arts: William H. Wrigley “Cherub” Scholarship, 2002.
Back to Emerging Artists
|
