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). She also enjoyed her television debut from the Kennedy Center during the national broadcast of the 2007 Kennedy Center Honors, in which she appeared as the Soprano II soloist in a gala performance of Beethoven's Choral Fantasy in honor of legendary pianist Leon Fleisher.
During the 2008-2009 season, Ms. Gori joined Washington's experimental InSeries as the meddling Public Opinion -- sung "with ringing authority" according to reviews -- in the InSeries new English update of Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld by Kelley Rourke. In Spring 2009, she joined the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic and the NOVA Community Chorus for two performances of Durufle's Requiem.
This season, in December Ms. Gori joined the Central Maryland Chorale for their holiday sing-along performance of Part I of Handel's Messiah. Later on, she will appear with Choralis in June 2010 under Maestra Gretchen Kuhrmann for Mendelssohn's dramatic oratorio Elijah, along with fellow soloists Danielle Talamantes, soprano, Dennys Moura, tenor, and Kerry Wilkerson, baritone.
Ms. Gori also performs regularly as part of Opera Night Live, a troupe of Washington's finest classical singers and entertainers, at Tuscana West Restaurant in downtown Washington, DC. For more information on upcoming performances by Opera Night Live, visit Tuscana West's website at www.tuscanawest.net.
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.