ANNA TONNA, (mezzo soprano)

Anna Tonna, mezzo soprano, is a singer noted for the beauty of her voice and committed stage presence. She is a 1998 Chicago Lyric Finalist and has appeared in the New York area in the roles of Gualtiero in Vivaldi's La Griselda, Dorabella in Cosí fan tutte, Angelina in La cenerentola, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Hansel in Hansel und Gretel, Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana, Mercedes in Carmen, Isabella in L'Italiana in Algeri and as Musetta in Leoncavallo's La Boheme in Weill Recital Hall. As Amaranta in Paisiello's La Molinara in New York's Town Hall, The New York Times described her performance as "pert and youthful". She returned to New York's Town Hall in the role of Isabella and Dolores Santa Cruz in a concert version of the Cuban zarzuela Cecilia Valdez under the direction of Pablo Zinger. This past August, Miss Tonna appeared as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly in El Teatro Nacional de Santo Domingo under the baton of Carlos Piantini. Ms. Tonna performed the role of Rosina in New Jersey State Opera’s production of Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia in 2005 and has performed often in concerts and operalogues with the company.

She has performed with El Teatro Nacional de Santo Domingo, International Music Festival at Caramoor, New York Grand Opera, The Thalia Music Theatre, Teatro Instabile, Taconic Opera, the New Jersey Association of Verismo Opera, the American Opera Musical Theater Co., Elysium Between Two Continents, The American Landmark Festival, The Westchester Chorale Arts Society, The Pacific Music Festival in Japan and the Brevard Music Center.

In the fields of oratorio and concert music, Ms. Tonna has performed with New York City area orchestras in Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Requiem under Nellie Vuksik, Mozart's C minor Mass, Saint-Saëns' Christmas Oratorio, as well as Bernstein's Songfest at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. She has been featured as a soloist in various "gala" opera concerts in Merkin Hall, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and the Atrium Theatre in the island of Martinique. This past November Ms. Tonna was the guest soloist for Collegium Ossining's performance of Berlioz Les Nuits d'ete and the Brahms Alto Rhapsody.

Ms. Tonna is a 2000 Gerda Lissner Foundation award recipient, a prizewinner for the 1999 Liederkranz Foundation Competition, first place winner for the 2000 Violetta Dupont/Opera at Florham competition, first place winner of the 1999 Cumberland International Competition, third place winner for the 2000 Center for Contemporary Opera competition, finalist for the 2000 Queens Opera Competition, the 1998 Jarmila Novotna Competition and the Alta Classica Spanish Music competition.