Mezzo-soprano
Grace Gori has been praised by The Washington Post for her "fine sense of style" and "strong dramatic impact". She is known in the Washington, DC area as an acclaimed performer in both the concert and operatic repertoire. A versatile artist, her opera repertoire ranges from Cherubino, Dorabella, and Donna Elvira to Carmen and even the Beggar Woman in Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd. As a concert artist, Ms. Gori's credits include guest appearances with orchestras in the US and Canada. She has placed as a Semi-Finalist in both the Center for Contemporary Opera Vocal Competition (1998) and the Oratorio Society of New York Vocal Competition (1999) and twice has been a Finalist in the Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition.
In the Washington, DC metropolitan area, Ms. Gori has been a featured soloist with major organizations including the Cathedral Choral Society, the Master Chorale of Washington, the New Dominion Chorale, the Washington Bach Consort, the Maryland Handel Festival, and the Washington Women's Chorus. She has been invited to solo several times on the Concert Hall stage of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, including an appearance in the Kennedy Center's annual "Sing-Along Messiah" (December 2004). Ms. Gori is also honored to have participated in the world premiere of Hannah's Song by composer Katherine Dienes with the Washington Women's Chorus (May 2006).
During the 2007-2008 season, Ms. Gori's concert performances included Handel's Messiah as orchestrated by Mozart with the New Dominion Chorale, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 ("Choral") with the American University Symphony Orchestra and Chorus,and appeared in recital with soprano Nancy Almquist and and pianist Dr. Jeffery Watson as part of the Washington Conservatory of Music's "Concerts for the Nation's Capital" series. She also enjoyed her television debut in the national broadcast of the Kennedy Center Honors, during which she appeared as the Soprano II soloist in a gala performance of Beethoven's Choral Fantasy in honor of Leon Fleisher. In June 2008, she joined the George Mason University Festival of the Arts in the role of Miss Skjaere for a concert reading of the new opera Love's Comedy by Kim D. Sherman.
This season, in January 2009 Ms. Gori sang the meddling Public Opinion "with ringing authority" in the InSeries update of Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld, presented in English in a new translation by Kelley Rourke. More recently, she joined the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic and the NOVA Community Chorus for two performances of Durufle's Requiem. She also performs regularly as part of Opera Night at Tuscana West Restaurant in downtown Washington, DC.
Ms. Gori maintains an active performance schedule both as a soloist and as part of the duo "Amanti Cantanti" with her husband, baritone Aurelius Gori. For more information or to receive e-mail updates about upcoming performances, please contact Ms. Gori at grace.gori@verizon.net.