Claudia Waite to Perform at OBU

April 5, 2001

Claudia Waite, soprano, will perform an art song recital, accompanied by Cynthia Clyburn Swicegood, pianist, at 7:30 p.m., April 10, at Oklahoma Baptist University.

Waite will be performing in Raley Chapel's Potter Auditorium just four days after appearing on stage at the Metropolitan Opera in Nabucco.

A worldwide audience saw Waite as a featured soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, under the baton of Maestro Seiji Ozawa at the Opening Ceremonies of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. She also made her debut bow that year at the Metropolitan Opera, singing the Erste Dame in Die Zauberfloete.

A former Adler Fellow (1994-95), Waite has appeared in numerous productions at San Francisco Opera, including the Dama in Macbeth, Die Aufseherin in Elektra, Helmwige in Die Walkuere, Hecuba in the North American premiere of Sir Michael Tippett's King Priam, The Foreign Princess in Rusalka, and Leonora in Il Trovatore.

Other credits include the The Dallas Opera (Helmwige and Sieglinde in Die Walkuere), Des Moines Metro Opera (Donna Anna in Don Giovanni), Opera Northeast (Elisabetta in Elisabetta, Regina d'Inghilterra) and Opera de Lyon (*Leonora in Fidelio, Fata Morgana in L'Amour des Trois Oranges), New Israeli Opera and Savonlinna Festival (Die Aufseherin in Elektra), and Opera Orchestra New York as Lucrezia in Lucrezia Borgia. Metropolitan Opera credits include Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Marianne in Der Rosenkavalier, the Erste Dame in Die Zauberfloete, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Micaela in Carmen and Anna in Nabucco.

As a concert artist, Waite has appeared with the Masterworks Chorale (Beethoven's Missa Solemnis), International Chamber Orchestra (Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915), OK Mozart Festival (Fledermaus Gala), and the San Francisco Symphony Pops Series (Rodgers and Hammerstein and Friends / Bernstein on Broadway). As a soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the soprano has appeared with the Tulsa Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, and with the San Francisco Opera, as part of the United Nations 50th Anniversary Celebration. The Houston Symphony, Abilene Philharmonic, New Century Guild, San Angelo Symphony, Sonora Bach Festival, and Kerrville Performing Arts Series have all featured the soprano in concerts programmed with the great standards of operatic repertoire.

During 2000 and 2001, the soprano makes debut appearances with Den Franske Opera Comique i Danmark (La Grande Duchesse de Garolstein), Abilene Opera (Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro) and in Krakow, Poland as Leonora in Il Trovatore. Ms. Waite also returns to the Metropolitan Opera as the Erste Dame in Die Zauberfloete, Berta in II, Barbiere di Siviglia and Gertrude in Hansel und Gretel.

In early 2000, Albany Press released "An American Voice: The Music of Robert Nelson". On the CD Waite sings the roles of Miss Lavish and Mrs. Honeychurch in excerpts of A Room With A View. Waite also records for MusAcom.com, a web commerce business catering to performance preparation materials for singers and teachers of voice.

Active as a collaborative pianist, Cynthia Swicegood has performed throughout the Southeastern United States, as well as in Austria and Holland. As a member of the Smetana Trio, she was invited to participate as a semi-finalist in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.

In addition to her bachelor of music degree from OBU, Swicegood has a master's and doctor of music degrees from Florida State University. She has held the position of accompanist at OBU and at the National Music Camp/Interlochen Arts Camp and has accompanied the National Association of Teachers of Singing Summer Internship Program, the National Symposium of the National Associate of College Wind and Percussion Instructors, and the National Music Teachers Association Southern Division competitions.

Swicegood currently serves as vocal coach at Gardner-Webb University.