Harolyn Blackwell

Harolyn Blackwell (born November 23, 1955) is an American lyric coloratura soprano who has performed in many of the world's finest opera houses, concert halls, and theaters in operas, oratorios, recitals, and Broadway musicals.

Harolyn Blackwell was born in Washington, D.C. on November 23, 1955, the eldest of five children.

Both of her parents were teachers and active participants in the Civil Rights Movement.

Her father, Harold Blackwell (for whom she was named), was also a redevelopment specialist with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C. for many years, and her mother taught physical education and health at the University of the District of Columbia.

Blackwell first became interested in music through the influence of her fourth grade teacher, Nancy Notargiacomo, who eventually became her voice and piano teacher when she was 10.

She also credits her high school choral director for encouraging her to pursue a music career.

Blackwell's first professional engagements were with Toby Orenstein's the Young Columbians with whom she performed in 1976-1977 singing songs like "After the Ball," "Summertime" and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes".

After graduating with her undergraduate degree in 1977, Blackwell taught music in two parochial schools while simultaneously continuing her vocal studies on the graduate level at Catholic University where she appeared two opera roles: Mrs Gobineau in The Medium and Giannetta in L'elisir d'amore.

In 1979, while preparing a recital program for her master's degree, Blackwell auditioned for the Broadway revival of West Side Story. Impressed with her audition, Leonard Bernstein hand picked her for the role of Francisca (formerly named Consuela in the original 1957 production) and the understudy for Maria in the 1980 revival.

As Francisca, Blackwell sang the song Somewhere from the orchestra pit during the final scene of the musical.

For the next two-and-a-half years she toured with the show, gaining skills no operatic training could have provided.

Blackwell said, "I learned about characterization, how you went about becoming that person", she said.

"I learned stamina, how to do eight shows a week. And I learned to make the stage my home, where I felt 100 percent comfortable."

At the show's premiere, critics remarked how similar Blackwell sounded to opera singer Reri Grist who originated the role of Consuela.

Initially known for her work within musical theater during the early 1980s, Blackwell moved into the field of opera and by 1987 had established herself as an artist within the soubrette repertoire in many major opera houses both in the United States and in Europe.

She graduated with a Masters in Vocal Performance in 1980.

In 1981, Blackwell auditioned for and was accepted into both the Houston Grand Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago young artist programs.

Having to choose between the two, Blackwell decided to go to Chicago.

After singing with the company in small parts for a year, Blackwell left the program and moved back to New York to study vocal technique more intensely with Shirlee Emmons.

She went on to win the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1983.

Up to this point Blackwell was still uncertain as to whether she would continue pursuing an opera career or go back to musical theater.

With winning the Met Auditions, however, her career path became decidedly reoriented towards opera.

"It fit so naturally", she explains of the then new foray into opera, "it was as if I'd put on a pair of old shoes."

Following her win, Blackwell continued in her apprenticeship at the Lyric Opera of Chicago for a year.

Coincidentally, Blackwell met and befriended Grist in 1985 when she coached Blackwell for her European debut as Oscar in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera with the Hamburg State Opera.

She repeated that role the following year at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

In 1987 she made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Poussette in Manon.

Since then Blackwell's career has flourished.

She has appeared several more times with the Metropolitan Opera in productions such as Un ballo in maschera, Le nozze di Figaro, Die Fledermaus, and Werther among others.

In 1989 Blackwell performed and recorded the role of Clara in a critically acclaimed production of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess with the Glyndebourne Festival Opera.

Feeling that she was being "type cast" into one particular kind of role, Blackwell strove to establish herself within the lyric coloratura repertoire beginning in the mid-1990s.

With the aid of such companies as Seattle Opera, Blackwell successfully made this move and is now an interpreter of such roles as Lucia in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Olympia in Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffman.

She has also periodically returned to musical theater performances throughout her career in staged productions, concert work, and recitals.

Blackwell is known for her interpretations and recordings of the works of Leonard Bernstein.

The recording won a Grammy Award and Blackwell performed the aria "Summertime" at the 1990 Grammy Awards.

That performance was praised highly and raised Blackwell's profile as an opera singer to watch.

In 1991, Blackwell made her debut with the San Francisco Opera as Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni.

In a 2003 interview Blackwell recalled, "I did not come from a musical family. I had a fourth grade teacher that introduced me to music and I sang at the Catholic church. In high school I started doing musicals − The Sound of Music, Brigadoon, Oliver!, and so forth. I thought maybe this would be what I would pursue after high school, although even in my senior year in high school I had doubts. I wanted to go into history or fashion design. But, I had a wonderful choral director who said 'no, your calling is music,' and she convinced me."

Blackwell attended Catholic University where she majored in vocal music education and also spent time in activities and classes related to the University's drama and musical theater programs.

Blackwell said, "I wasn't quite sure whether I wanted to pursue classical or musical theater. I knew that whichever I chose, I wanted to have a classical training. It was important to me to have the technical expertise as well as also the theory and understanding of classical music. Catholic University was the best of both possible worlds, because they had a very strong drama department as well as a very good music department. They were next door, so I spent quite a bit of time going back and forth between the drama department and the music department."