A Grand Night of Opera

American soprano Mary Anne Kruger graduated with a Master of Music degree from Indiana University where she studied voice with world-renowned voice teacher Margaret Harshaw.  She then went to Germany where she established an impressive repertoire of over 40 major operatic and concert roles.  Her repertoire spans in vocal range from Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) to Salome, and in stylistic range from Poppea (L’Incornazione di Poppea) to Anne Trulove (The Rake’s Progress), as well as some world and German premieres. Among innumerable accolades, Opernwelt called her Contessa (“Le Nozze di Figaro”) “dazzling”, and Orfeus International declared her Salome to be “worthy of the greatest houses.” She built her repertoire primarily as a member of the Hessisches Staatstheater Darmstadt, but she has performed in over 20 European theaters including the Bayerische Staatsoper- Nationaltheater in Munich, Staatstheater Stuttgart, the Latvian National Opera and Theater Basel.

Her prizes include a nomination in the category “Best Singer” in the Opernwelt Jahrbuch for her portrayal of Alcina.  She was awarded the role of Donna Elvira in the Don Giovanni production  at the Athens Concert Hall directed by Ruggiero Raimondi and conducted by Gustav Kühn. The “Sonderpreis der Wiener Staats-und Volksoper” at the Belvedere Competition secured for her a performance as Hanna Glawari (Die Lustige Witwe) at the the Wiener Volksoper.  She was also awarded a DAAD scholarship (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdient) to study at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich.  She currently lives in Satellite Beach with her husband and two dogs.

Soprano, Amy Cofield, is a highly sought after performer and teacher. Praised by the New York Times for her "lovely, rich tone," Ms. Cofield has performed to critical acclaim across the U.S. and in Italy, France, Croatia, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, England, Santo Domingo, Guam, Taiwan  and Japan. Highly regarded for her “technical facility,” her “beauty of interpretation” and an “arresting presence,” her operatic roles have included Violetta, a role that marked her debut at Houston Grand Opera where she covered Renee Fleming’s Traviata, Cleopatra, Micaela, and Lucia di Lammermoor with Opera Roanoke, Elcia (cover) in Rossini’s Moses in Egypt at New York City Opera, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Nevada Opera, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus with Greensboro Light Opera (Eastern Music Festival), Violetta with Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and Chorale, Mimi, with Pro Cantus Lyric Opera (TX), Cunegonde and Susannah with Fort Worth Opera, Musetta and Pamina with Knoxville Opera, Gilda, Norina and Violetta with Lyric Opera San Antonio, and Konstanze and Violetta with Teatro Lirico D'Europa.

Amy’s busy concert schedule has included performances of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Brahms’ Requiem with the U.S. Naval Academy, Orff's Carmina Burana with Virginia Symphony, Handel’s Messiah with Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Einhorn's Voices of Light, Haydn’s Creation and Handel's Messiah with Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and Chorale, Ravel’s Sheherazade with Norfolk Chamber Consort,  Mendelssohn's Elijah and St. Paul Oratorio, Haydn's The Seasons, Bach’s St. John Passion, Handel’s  Judas Maccabaeus and Beethoven’s Mass in C with Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society and in works  from Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C Minor, to Handel’s Messiah and Brahms’ Requiem with Garden  State Philharmonic and Fort Wayne Philharmonic. In addition Amy has appeared with Opera Camerata of Washington, Norfolk Chamber Consort, Virginia Arts Festival, Festival Chamber Music in recital at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and with The Masterwork Chorus (NJ) in Handel’s Messiah at Carnegie Hall.

Recent engagements included the role of Violetta in Opera Roanoke's production of Verdi's La Traviata, and a world premiere in NY, performing the role of Belinda in the opera/oratorio, The Rape of the Lock (Alexander Pope), by NY composer Deborah Mason, a return to SNMAS for Mendelssohn’s Elijah, to Roanoke Symphony Orchestra for Handel’s Messiah, and a debut with Tulsa Symphony performing Brahms’ Requiem. Upcoming engagements include recitals in Maine and Virginia, Mozart’s Grand Mass in C Minor at St John’s Episcopal Church (Roanoke, VA), Handel’s Messiah with Annapolis Chorale and Chamber Orchestra, and Haydn’s Creation with Roanoke Symphony Orchestra.