“…a penetrating sorceress.” (Corriere della Sera, 10 June 2013)

“Dolora Zajick maintains the voice and style necessary to do full justice to the role of Ulrica.” (Il Manifesto, 12 June 2013)

“The cast is top rate. Dolora Zajick (Ulrica) fills her entrance with pathos in the semi-darkness and the aria Re dell’Abisso, concluded in the same light with a terrifying ‘silenzio’.” (Il Messagero, 10 June 2013)

“Of great intensity, however, is the performance of contralto (sic) Dolora Zajick, for decades the standard-bearer for Verdi roles. She combines dramatic force with vocal control and evinces a stage presence that is evident, even when, as in this case, the opera is given in concert.” (L’Osservatore Romano, 11 June 2013)

“Dolora Zajick commands attention as Azucena with her astonishingly opulent and enchanting mezzo-soprano instrument. Simply put, Dolora Zajick’s Azucena is miraculous! Every emotion and each ounce of her grief is believable and stirring, especially as she showcases her powerhouse and stunningly divine vocals on ‘Stride la vampa,’ ‘Condotta ell’era in ceppi,’ and ‘Giorni poveri vivea.’ In many ways, this is truly her show, and all I can say is, ‘ Brava!’” (Broadway World, 29 April 2013)

“Mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick demonstrated how ferocity and tenderness can come from the same source. As Azucena, Manrico’s mother – who’s haunted by horrific events in her past – Zajick sang with an earthiness and fire that radiated the intensity of Azucena’s obsessions. Yet when Azucena finally found rest in more peaceful visions, Zajick’s gentleness showed she was moving beyond the reach of her sorrows.” (Houston Chronicle, 30 April 2013)

“The rich tones of mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick brought to gypsy wise-woman Azucena a deep resonance, as if her painful songs were drawn from deep within the earth. …Zajick held the audience with ease. In the presence of such voice, mere stage tricks just won’t do.” (Culturemap, 27 April 2013)

Dolora Zajick and the faculty and staff of the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices is delighted to congratulate soprano Rebecca Pedersen as one of the six winners at the 2013 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the 60th anniversary of the presitigious competition. The 21-year-old soprano from Bountiful, UT, was selected by a panel of judges following a performance of arias by the finalists on the Met stage with the MET Orchestra, conducted by Marco Armiliato.

The Grand Finals Concert was recorded for broadcast at a later date on public radio stations across the United States. In addition, on  Monday, March 11, at 7 p.m., this year’s newly selected winners will perform a concert of varied operatic repertory at the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space at WQXR, New York City’s all-classical station.

Soprano Rebecca Pedersen, 21, resides in Bountiful, Utah with her parents and ten siblings. Rebecca is a sophomore at Brigham Young University and studies with Darrell and Jennifer Welch-Babidge. She is also mentored by world-renowned mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick, and is a resident artist at the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices. Recent solo engagements have included concerts with the Utah Symphony, conducted by Thierry Fischer. Ms. Pedersen was the winner of the prestigious Utah Salute to Youth competition in both 2010 and 2012. As a freshman, Rebecca won both the BYU Singer of the Year Award, and the Concerto Competition, soloing with the BYU Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Pedersen also maintains a close working relationship with the Utah Lyric Opera Company, where she was cast in their recent productions of La Traviata and La Bohème. Roles include Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) at BYU, and Genevieve (Suor Angelica) with Utah/Idaho Performing Arts Company.

“Dolora Zajick has been a dramatic mezzo of choice for more than two decades now, and she remains at the height of her powers. Bellini originally wrote the role of Adalgisa, the new flame of Norma’s love, for a soprano, with a higher vocal line than many mezzos can credibly perform. Zajick accepted the challenge with vigor and superb technique easily equal to Meade’s. Their duet “Mira, o Norma,” the evening’s highlight, bathed in a delicious synergy of vocal power.”(Musical America, 21 March 2013)

“The Adalgisa in this production is the terrific Dolora Zajick, who matches Meade practically note for note in terms of vocal elegance and coloratura gleam. The two blend seamlessly and exquisitely in their Act 2 duet. Even people who swear there will never be anything as exciting as Sutherland and Horne in this duet may start to waver after hearing these two. On Saturday, Zajick scored extra bel canto points with a mesmerizing demonstration of messa di voce, the difficult and infrequently encountered technique of producing a gradual crescendo and decrescendo on a single note.” (Baltimore Sun, 13 March 2013)

“Ms. Zajick is also able to convey considerable nobility even through the betrayal, the outrage, and the hurt that batter her character like an unexpected whirlwind. In addition, Ms. Zajick sang flawlessly in the several brief, tight duets she shared with Ms. Meade at key points, particularly in Act II.” (Washington Times, 11 March 2013)

“Zajick is equally effective as Adalgisa. Like Meade, she is comfortable at the upper as well as the lower ends of the register and with dramatic crescendos. Zajick and Meade have several duets, their voices mingling beautifully in complicated trills and runs.” (Washington Examiner, 12 March 2013)

“Mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick (Adalgisa), Norma’s friend and unwitting rival, has a mellowed and full-body tone that nevertheless can fill the stage when needed and complements Meade well on their many emotionally and musically challenging duets like “Sola, furtiva al tempio.” One of the highlights of the night is hearing them sing together when the orchestra falls silent.” (DC Metro Theater Arts , 10 march 2013)

“In her duet with Pollione, the ‘sisters’ mutual love interest, she sang a breath-takingly long, dynamically contrasted single note.  Stunning in its length and beauty. One Adalgisa, when asked why she undertook this role, laughed, “I can steal the show with one note.”  Zajick almost did.”  (Berkshire Fine Arts, 11 March 2013)

The Wagner Society of Washington DC and
the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices
Announce a New Collaboration for 2013

For immediate release, March 1, 2013 - The Wagner Society of Washington DC, one of the city’s most vibrant cultural institutions, and Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices have announced a new collaboration for 2013. The Wagner Society will fund the participation of a specialized German-language coach for the Institute. The coach will teach individual and group classes, with a focus on German language skills and repertoire.  In 2012, the Washington Wagner Society provided financial assistance to an emerging singer to attend in the Institute.

As part of this collaboration, the Wagner Society will offer a special evening with Dolora Zajick, on Thursday, March 14, at the Goethe Institute, starting at 7:30 pm. Taking a break from her role as Adalgisa in WNO’s production of Bellini’s Norma, Dolora will join host Peter Russell for a delightful evening of discussion and Q&A.

Chairman of the Wagner Society, Jim Holman, commented: “We are delighted to be able to collaborate with the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices in order to further the development of the opera stars of the future. In 1999, the Wagner Society board formed a partnership with opera greats, Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart, to coach and mentor American singers with potential for operatic careers singing Wagner.  This collaboration with the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices is a natural extension of this partnership – the Institute’s mandate to develop wonderful voices and unparalleled training opportunities complements perfectly the goals of the Wagner Society.”

Founder and General Director of the Institute, Dolora Zajick, said that ‘the support of the Wagner Society of Washington is critical to the ability of the Institute to provide the level of training in German language and repertoire for which the Institute is renowned. We are very grateful for the Society’s belief in our program and look forward to an ongoing partnership.”

The Wagner Society of Washington, DC serves the Washington community in many ways – through monthly lectures, semi-annual concerts, and special events through a network of collaborating institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, the German Embassy, and the Kennedy Center. Now fifteen years old, the Wagner Society is dedicated to two principal goals:

(1)   To enrich the cultural life of the Washington Metropolitan area, by regularly providing the general public with lectures, concerts, opera performances, trips, and special events;
(2)   To assist the development of American singers who have demonstrated the potential for successful careers singing opera.

For more information please visit: www.wagner-dc.org

The Institute for Young Dramatic Voices:

The mission of the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices is to identify and nurture dramatic and unusual voices and guide those unique talents so that they reach the world’s great opera stages. Created by Dolora Zajick in 2007, the Institute offers an innovative 3-week intensive summer program to singers with large or unusual voices ages 15-36 at varying levels of vocal development.  Recent participants have gone on to attend the Merola Program in San Francisco, Houston Grand Opera Studio, and the Young Artists Program at the Washington National Opera.  Former students are also beginning to make their presence known in professional venues such as Covent Garden and San Francisco Opera   For more information, please visit www.instituteforyoungdramaticvoices.org

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For more information, please contact:

Moira Johnson Consulting
Tel: +1 613 565 0666
moira@moirajohnson.com                          megan@moirajohnson.com

On Thursday, March 14, 2013 at 7:30 pm the Wagner Society of Washington presents a special evening with Dolora Zajick at the Goethe-Institut (812 7th Street NW). She will join host Peter Russell in conversation and take questions from audience members. The evening is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit the Wagner Society’s website

Dolora stars as Adalgisa in the WNO’s production of Norma on March 9, 12, 15 18, 21, 24. For more information, please visit the Washington National Opera’s website.

“Even though directed to clutch a purse and swig booze in the manner of Menotti’s Medium, Dolora Zajick remains a force of mezzo-soprano nature as the resident fortune-teller.” (Financial Times, 12 November 2012)

“Mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick brought her usual imposing tones at either end of her vast range to the role of the fortuneteller Ulrica.” (Associated Press, 9 November 2012)

“Dolora Zajick’s best singing came in the fiery heights and not the sulphurous depths of Ulrica’s music.” (Classical Review, 9 November 2012)

“Dolora Zajick brings her customary power to the role of Ulrica.” (Star Ledger, 10 November 2012)

“The scene with Ulrica, the fortuneteller, represents the Italianate Verdi at his most bleak and ominous, and this production has the powerhouse mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick in the role.” (New York Times, 9 November 2012)

The November issue of Opera Magazine containing Dolora’s interview with esteemed music journalist Martin Bernheimer is now available in magazine shops around the world. You can also read it online on the Opera magazine website, but you can only see the photos in the print edition!

On October 10th, Dolora will participate in an evening of opera arias presented in a collaboration between WQXR and the Metropolitan Opera. Other Met Opera singers featured include Guanqun Yu, Audrey Luna, Kathleen Kim, Isabel Leonard, Alek Shrader, and Ildar Abdrazakov. The performance will be broadcast live by WQXR and streamed live on the Mtropolitan Opera website.

For more information, visit The Greene Space website and listen live through the WQXR website

THE DETAILS

An Evening with The Metropolitan Opera
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
7:00 PM
Tickets: $20
Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Venue: The Greene Space
44 Charlton Street, New York, NY
(corner of Varick Street)

Dolora has received unanimously sensational reviews of her interpretation of Azucena in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Il Trovatore. One of her signature roles, Dolora made her Met debut in the role in 1988 and has continued to dominate across the world. Read the first reviews:

“All this becomes not only plausible but maximally gripping, thanks to the force of nature that is Dolora Zajick, who has been singing Azucena in Met Trovatores since 1988. Zajick, who inhabits this character so thoroughly that it barely seems as if she is playing a role, commands the stage fully with her splendid vocal authority, inluding great chesty low notes and vibrant, richly infused highs. One could hear a pin drop at the end of her magnificent “Stride la vampa” which was only a warmup for her riveting “Condotta ell’era in ceppi,” the account of Azucena’s mother’s death at the stake. Zajick even made the potentially bewildering final moments of the opera seem not just credible but inevitable.” (Opera News, December 2012)

“Mezzo Dolora Zajick has owned this role at the Met for nearly a quarter-century, performing it more than 40 times since her debut in 1988. On Saturday, she showed that at age 60 she has lost none of the visceral power that makes her portrayal so exciting, especially when she hurls out thunderbolts from her lower chest register or cuts through the orchestra with sizzling high notes. Her Azucena is a wild woman, yet sympathetic at the same time, as she struggles between devotion to Manrico and obsession with avenging her mother’s murder.” (Associated Press, 30 September 2012)

“Azucena, the vengeful Gypsy, was the role of the mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick’s Met debut back in 1988. David McVicar’s grimly realistic production suits her clear, straightforward style, and she was on fire on Saturday, singing tirelessly and growing in authority as the opera went on. By the final scene between her and Manrico, the performance was in a deep, delicious groove.” (New York Times, 3 October 2012)

“The other standout in the cast is Dolora Zajick as Azucena, who made her company début in the role in 1988. She seems a visitor not from another place but from another time—from, say, Verdi’s time, when singing meant having a command of basic musicianship, including the ability to execute clean trills and fioritura, control dynamics, and maintain an accurate (but pliant) sense of time. Zajick’s tone is solid in all registers and at all volumes, whether reduced to a suffocated thread of sound (as in the final, anguished phrases of Condotta ell’era in ceppi) or unfurled in gleaming, vengeful triumph in the opera’s closing measures. She shapes words with feeling and understanding and portrays Verdi’s shattered gypsy with tormented dignity. Zajick is a sovereign and seemingly ageless artist, but because no earthly things or people last forever, audiences would do well to catch her while they can.” (Classical Review, 30 September 2012)

“Now 60, the mezzo-soprano remains a powerhouse, showing easy command over more than two octaves. In this melodramatic tale of Azucena’s obsession with revenge for the death of her mother — burned at the stake for witchcraft — Zajick triumphed in her second act aria “Condotta ell’era in ceppi.” Recalling the grisly details of the execution, she rocketed to a steely high B-flat, then plunged into a thundering chest register.” (New York Post, 2 October 2012)