Praised for the “thrilling vocal
color”
and “sweetly winning” presence, American soprano
Anya Matanovič (ma ta’ no vich) makes her international
opera debut in Franco Zeffirelli’s captivating production
of Puccini’s
La bohème as Musetta during the New Israeli Opera’s
2008-09 Season.
This fall, Matanovič makes
her Opera Cleveland debut as Gretel in Humperdinck’s
Hänsel und Gretel, in a production directed by Chuck Hudson,
conducted by Artistic Director Dean Williamson and returns
for their spring production of Verdi’s Falstaff as Nannetta,
directed by Peter Kazaras. In
summer of 2009, she joins the Seattle Opera artist roster for
their internationally revered production of Wagner’s
Der Ring des Nibelungen, directed by Stephen Wadsworth. Anya
Matanovič has
engagements with Kentucky Opera and her return to Seattle Opera
in future seasons.
In the 2007-2008 Season, Anya Matanovič appeared on the New York City Opera’s
roster for their productions of Massenet’s Cendrillon,
La bohème, and Purcell’s King Arthur, making her
debut as Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen. Ms. Matanovič also
was featured in New York City Opera’s VOX: Showcasing
American Composers Series in works by Sorrel Hays and Cary
Ratcliff.
For the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 Seasons,
Ms. Matanovič shared her time
between the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program, appearing in
their productions as Flora in Britten’s A Turn of the
Screw, Serpina in Mozart’s
La Serva Padrona, and Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff; and
the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program for Singers, making her
mainstage debut as a “pert, appealing” Papagena in Mozart’s
Die Zauberflöte.
Anya Matanovič made
her professional opera debut, directly from her undergraduate
studies, as Mimì in the Los Angeles commercial engagement
of Baz Luhrmann’s Tony Award-winning production of La
Bohème. Ms. Matanovič appeared
in University of Southern California’s Thornton School
of Music productions of The Crucible, Gianni Schicchi, and
Hansel und Gretel.
Ms. Matanovič is
equally comfortable on the concert stage appearing with Santa
Fe Opera, Portland (OR) Chamber Orchestra, Hoku Concert
Series in Hawaii, Sun Valley Opera, the Palm Springs Orchestra
and the Music of Remembrance Concert Series in Seattle. Anya
also has appeared on the television series Alias, starring
Jennifer Garner and Victor Garber. Ms. Matanovič was
also a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National
Council Auditions and has received prize money from such institutions
as the Gerda Lissner Foundation,
Opera Buffs, Leni Fe Bland, and the
Sun Valley Opera . She is a
co-founder of NachtMusik, an operatic
outreach group dedicated to bringing opera to the many different
communities of Los Angeles.
Raised in Issaquah, Washington to
a Slovenian father and American mother, Anya now calls New
York City her home, with filmmaker John Roche and their cat,
Grippus.