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The American mezzo-soprano, Nancy Maultsby, is a graduate of Westminster Choir College, where she studied with Lindsey Christiansen, and was a graduate student at Indiana University School of Music, where she studied with Margaret Harshaw. She is an alumna of the Lyric Opera of Chicago's Center for American Artists. Among numerous other awards, she is the winner of the Marian Anderson Award and the Martin E. Segal Award.
Nancy Maultsby is in demand by opera companies and orchestras throughout the world. Her unique vocal timbre and insightful musicianship allow her to pursue a repertoire extending from the operas of Monteverdi and George Frideric Handel to recent works by John Adams. She regularly performs the major heroines of 19th-century French, Italian and German opera and the great symphonic w orks.
Nancy Maultsby’s operatic career has included a wide range of roles in some of the world’s most prestigious houses. She has performed often with Lyric Opera of Chicago, where she appeared as Erda in Das Rheingold and Siegfried, as well as the First Norn and Waltraute in Götterdämmerung, all conducted by Zubin Mehta. She also sang La Cieca in La Gioconda there conducted by Bruno Bartoletti and Pauline in Pique Dame conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, both of which opened the company’s season. She appeared as Erda in both Das Rheingold and Siegfried and Waltraute in Götterdämmerung in the new Stephen Wadsworth Der Ring des Nibelungen with Seattle Opera. She has sung Fricka at Stuttgart Opera; Jocasta in Igor Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex in Naples, Rome, Dresden and Athens; Charlotte, Carmen and Orlovsky at Seattle Opera; Maddalena at the Netherlands Opera; Amneris with Minnesota Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Palm Beach Opera and at the National Theater Athens; Ottavia in Athens; Cornelia in Giulio Cesare at Florida Grand Opera and Opera Colorado; Maddalena at the Netherlands Opera; and Adalgisa in Genoa. Other operatic engagements have included productions of Die Ägyptische Helena at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden (under Christian Thielemann); Carmen at San Francisco Opera and Pittsburgh Opera; and productions at the Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires and Santa Fe Opera. A recent addition to her repertoire is Judith in Béla Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle which she sang in the acclaimed Robert Lepage production for her debut at the Opéra de Montréal, where she subsequently returned as Amneris.
Nancy Maultsby’s orchestral repertoire extends from the Baroque to the most important works of the 20th century. Throughout her career, she has enjoyed frequent engagements with many leading conductors. Her collaborations include performances under Zubin Mehta, Christoph von Dohnányi, Kurt Masur, Edo de Waart, James Conlon, Yuri Temirkanov, Sir Andrew Davis, Lorin Maazel, Sir Colin Davis, Riccardo Chailly, David Zinman, Bruno Bartoletti, Robert Spano, Christian Thielemann, Franz Welser-Möst, Neeme Järvi, the late Hans Vonk, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Leonard Slatkin and the late Robert Shaw. Her regular collaborations with America’s leading orchestras include concerts with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Houston Symphony Orchestra. She has sung at every major USA. Festival including Ravinia, Tanglewood, Saratoga, Aspen, Grant Park and the Cincinnati May Festival.
The particularly rich quality of Nancy Maultsby’s vocal timbre is a natural fit with the music of Gustav Mahler. She has sung his Symphony No. 2 with the Cleveland Orchestra (Christoph von Dohnányi), Minnesota Orchestra (Edo de Waart), National Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, on tour with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (Zubin Mehta), Aspen Music Festival, Orchestre National de France (Conlon), Australian Broadcasting Company (Edo de Waart) and Brooklyn Philharmonic. G. Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 has taken her to the Cleveland Orchestra (Franz Welser-Möst), Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (including Carnegie Hall), Detroit Symphony Orchestra (Neeme Järvi), Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (Temirkanov), Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (Levi), Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (David Zinman) and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (Macal). She has also performed the Symphony No. 8 (Minnesota, Cincinnati May Festival, Amsterdam), Das Lied von der Erde (Atlanta, Baltimore, Aspen Festival, Brooklyn, Sydney), Kindertotenlieder (Orchestra della Toscana under Bartoletti) and Das Klagende Lied (American Symphony Orchestra).
Highlights of recent seasons include a return to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to sing G. Mahler’s Second Symphony under Robert Spano. She repeated this work to mark the end of Yuri Temirkanov’s tenure as music director of the Baltimore Symphony, having also performed the same piece with Maestro Temirkanov at his inaugural concerts with the orchestra. Recent appearances in concert include the Verdi Requiem with the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra with Neeme Järvi, concerts and a recording of Leonard Bernstein’s Jeremiah with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under Robert Spano, Messiah with Alan Gilbert conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the L.v. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Lorin Maazel and Alexander Nevsky with the Baltimore Symphony under Temirkanov, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra under Roberto Abbado and the Grant Park Music Festival. She performed the role of Marilyn Klinghoffer in performances of John Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and sang the L.v. Beethoven Ninth under Zubin Mehta at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. She performed selections from G. Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and sang a solo recital in Richmond, Virginia. She sang an aria concert with the Minnesota Orchestra under Patrick Summers, Ursule in acclaimed concert performances of Béatrice et Bénédict led by Sir Colin Davis at the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and John Adams’s El Niño under Robert Spano with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and at the Ravinia Festival.
In the 2006-2007 season, Nancy Maultsby added Ulrica in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera to her repertoire. She was also seen in a new James Robinson production of the work for her debut at Boston Lyric Opera with Stephen Lord conducting. The production subsequently traveled to Opera Colorado. She also returned to Santa Fe Opera as Lu in the American premiere of Tan Dun’s acclaimed opera Tea: A Mirror of Soul. Her 2006-2007 concert season included a return to the Baltimore Symphony for G. Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder under Yuri Temirkanov. She sang in the inaugural weeks of the new Schermerhorn Concert Hall in Nashville in G. Mahler’s Second Symphony under Leonard Slatkin. She returned to the Hong Kong Philharmonic for G. Mahler’s Third Symphony under Edo de Waart and to the Seattle Symphony Orchestra for L.v. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under Gerard Schwarz. She also sang Messiah with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and the L.v. Beethoven Ninth Symphony with the Florida Orchestra.
During the 2007-2008 season, Nancy Maultsby joined Kurt Masur and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra for Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, as well as David Robertson and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra for Rossini’s Stabat Mater. She also appeared with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor (BWV 232), the IRIS Orchestra in Edward Elgar’s Sea Pictures, and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in G.F. Handel’s Messiah. One of the foremost interpreters of G. Mahler, Maultsby performed that composer’s Second and Third Symphonies with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and West Australian Symphony Orchestra, respectively, as well as Das Lied von der Erde with the Syracuse Symphony. Maultsby concluded the season by making her role debut as Mistress Quickly in a new production of Falstaff at the Santa Fe Opera.
During the 2008-2009 season, Nancy Maultsby made her Washington National Opera debut as Erda in Francesca Zambello’s new production of Siegfried, as well as her role debut as Ježibaba in Rusalka at Boston Lyric Opera. Maultsby joined Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl in G. Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand, which she reprised later in the season with Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Her concert calendar also included Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass with Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra, both at Severance Hall and at Carnegie Hall; L. Bernstein’s Jeremiah Symphony with Leonard Slatkin and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; and Verdi’s Requiem with the Colorado Symphony, under the baton of Jeffrey Kahane.
Nancy Maultsby opens the 2009-2010 season with a return to Washington National Opera as Mistress Quickly in Falstaff, conducted by Sebastian Lang-Lessing; she reprises her roles in Tan Dun’s Tea: A Mirror of the Soul at Opera Company of Philadelphia under the baton of the composer; sings Verdi’s Requiem with New Orleans Opera; and joins the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for Amneris in concert performances of Aïda. The season also sees a pair of notable debuts: with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra as Baba the Turk in The Rake’s Progress, conducted by Edo de Waart; and with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Utah Symphony Orchestra in G. Mahler’s Symphony No. 2.
In addition to her recordings of Elijah, Odyseus and Telarc's highly acclaimed recording of W.A. Mozart's Requiem - the premiere recording on period instruments with the Boston Baroque - Nancy Maultsby can be heard on Telarc's recording of Dido and Aeneas, also with the Boston Baroque. She is featured on box sets honoring Christoph von Dohnányi and the Cleveland Orchestra (G. Mahler's Symphony No. 2) and Kurt Masur at the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (Debussy’s St. Sebastian). Her recent recordings include the Lamentation from L. Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1 (“Jeremiah”) with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for Telarc, Richard Yardumian’s Symphony No. 2 with the Singapore Symphony on BIS, and Wagner opera excerpts on Naxos. |
