Erin Morley

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Erin Morley
Erin Morley as Olympia at the Metropolitan Opera, 2015
Erin Morley as Olympia at the Metropolitan Opera, 2015
Background information
Born (1980-10-11) October 11, 1980 (age 43)[1]
Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
GenresOpera, classical
Occupation(s)Singer (coloratura soprano)
Years active2007–present
Websiteerinmorley.com

Erin Morley (born October 11, 1980) is an American operatic soprano.

Early years[edit]

Morley was born in Salt Lake City, Utah to David Palmer, a former singer in the Tabernacle Choir, and Elizabeth Palmer, a current concertmaster of the Salt Lake Symphony.[2] Her first professional singing engagements were with the Utah Symphony with Joseph Silverstein and with the Tabernacle Choir on their worldwide broadcast Music & the Spoken Word under the baton of Craig Jessop. Morley obtained her undergraduate voice degree from Eastman School of Music, her Master of Music voice degree from the Juilliard School, and her Artist Diploma from the Juilliard Opera Center.[2] Morley also trained at the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program,[3] the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, the Ravinia Festival Steans Institute, and the Wolf Trap Opera Company.

Career[edit]

Morley has performed at Carnegie Hall, The Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris,[4] Royal Opera House,[5] Bavarian State Opera,[6] Vienna State Opera,[7] Glyndebourne Festival Opera,[8] Gran Teatre del Liceu,[9] LA Opera,[10] and Santa Fe Opera.[11] Morley's debut at the Met was as First Madrigal[12] in Manon Lescaut in 2008.[13] Erin made her Santa Fe Opera debut in 2010 in The Magic Flute as the Queen of the Night and has sung many other roles with the company.

On operatic and concert stages, Morley has collaborated with celebrated conductors worldwide, including Riccardo Muti,[14] Christian Thielemann,[15] Riccardo Chailly,[16] Gustavo Dudamel,[17] Yannick Nézet-Séguin,[18] Andris Nelsons,[19] Seiji Ozawa, James Levine,[4] and Bernard Haitink.[20]

Morley's breakthrough career moment came when she stepped in at the last minute to sing Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier at the Metropolitan Opera during the 2013–2014 season, which was hailed as "a major success".[21] She has been described by The New York Times as a "limpid, fluid soprano", "silken clarity", and "needlepoint precision".[22][23] In September 2018 she made her debut, while being 34 weeks pregnant, in Debussy's Le Martyre de saint Sébastien with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.[24]

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Morley was set to sing the part of Sophie in Werther for the Met's music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin.[25]

Morley made her Teatro alla Scala debut in 2022 as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos,[26] and her Royal Opera House debut in 2023 as Gilda in Rigoletto.[27] She also debuted at the BBC Proms that same year.[28]

Personal life[edit]

Morley is married to John D. Morley, a Yale law professor, and they have three children.[4][29] She is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[1]

Awards and honors[edit]

In 2007, she received the Florence & Paul DeRosa Prize from the Juilliard Opera Center. She won 1st prize in the Jessie Kneisel Lieder Competition in 2002, 1st place in the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Competition in 2006, 3rd place in London's Wigmore Hall International Song Competition in 2009, and received the Richard Tucker Career Grant in 2013.[2][23] The Met Opera production of Der Rosenkavalier, featuring Morley as Sophie, was nominated for the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording.[30] She received the Beverly Sills Award in 2021.[31] In 2022, she shared a Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance for her work as a soloist in Mahler's Symphony No. 8, as performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the direction of Gustavo Dudamel[17] and received a Grammy nomination for Eurydice (Metropolitan Opera) in 2022.[32] In 2023, she was one of the recipients of the Opera News Awards.[33] She was named ‘Chevalière dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ by the French Minister of Culture in 2023, and the award was presented to her in Paris on February 5, 2024.[34]

Recordings[edit]

Morley's first solo album, "Rose in Bloom", is to be released on April 19, 2024.[35]

A recording of Handel's Alcina (Pentatone[36]) featuring Morley's Morgana was released in February of 2024. She also appears in a recording produced by Palazzetto Bru Zane[37] of Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable released in 2021.

Video[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Erin Morley", Latter-day Saint Musicians, 2016. Retrieved on 29 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Burger, David. "Salt Lake City native and Brighton High grad Erin Morley wins big opera prize", The Salt Lake Tribune, 15 April 2013. Retrieved on 29 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Lindemann Young Artist Development Program Participants - Past and *Current" (PDF). metopera.org.
  4. ^ a b c Baker, Celia R. (28 October 2011). "Erin Morley: From Utah to the Met". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Erin Morley". www.roh.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  6. ^ "Bayerische Staatsoper - Erin Morley". Staatsoper.
  7. ^ "Vorstellungen mit Erin Morley". Spielplanarchiv der Wiener Staatsoper. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  8. ^ "Erin Morley". Glyndebourne. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  9. ^ "Erin Morley". Gran Teatre del Liceu. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  10. ^ "Erin Morley". LA Phil. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  11. ^ "Erin Morley | Santa Fe Opera". www.santafeopera.org. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  12. ^ "Metropolitan Opera Archives". archives.metopera.org. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  13. ^ "Soprano Erin Morley", Metropolitan Opera, 2021. Retrieved on 29 March 2021.
  14. ^ rmm_classic. "Muti conducts Beethoven, Chicago". Riccardo Muti. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  15. ^ "Christian Thielemann mit der Staatskapelle Dresden bei ARTE Concert - Staatskapelle Dresden". www.staatskapelle-dresden.de. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  16. ^ Romero, Justo (2022-03-31). "MILÁN / Riccardo Chailly y su telúrico Mahler escalígero". Scherzo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  17. ^ a b "Eastman School of Music Alumni Win GRAMMY Awards". esm.rochester.edu. University of Rochester. 4 April 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  18. ^ a b Eurydice (4 December 2021), Met Opera on Demand; CID:357519 Archived 2022-07-13 at the Wayback Machine, Met Opera Archive.
  19. ^ "Erin Morley". BSO. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  20. ^ "Chicago Classical Review » » Haitink and the CSO glorious in Mendelssohn's "Midsummer" music". chicagoclassicalreview.com. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  21. ^ "Erin Morley Big Change", National Association of Teachers of Singing, 3 March 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  22. ^ da Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna. "Believe in Eternity, or at Least 100 Years", The New York Times, 27 November 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  23. ^ a b "The Scene: People: Erin Morley", Schmopera, 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  24. ^ Flanigan, Robin L. "An Operatic 'Trapeze Artist' ", Rochester Review, Fall 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  25. ^ Woolfe, Zachary. "The Metropolitan Opera Season That Vanished", The New York Times, 13 May 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  26. ^ Miner, Erica. "BWW Interview: Erin Morley of ARIADNE AUF NAXOS at Teatro alla Scala". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  27. ^ "Rigoletto | Cast List | 13.11.2023 19:30". www.roh.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  28. ^ "Prom 69: Mozart's 'Requiem'". www.royalalberthall.com. Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  29. ^ Petersons, Erik. "Artist Interview: Erin Morley", PCMS, 1 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  30. ^ Ruel, Chris. "Interview: Soprano Erin Morley’s Enriching Work-Life Balance", Opera Wire, 3 February 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  31. ^ "Baritone Will Liverman wins the Met's 2022 Beverly Sills Artist Award". www.metopera.org. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  32. ^ "Grammy Nominations for EURYDICE and FIRE SHUT UP IN MY BONES". {$plugin.tx_news.opengraph.site_name}. 2022-11-17. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  33. ^ Salazar, Francisco (2022-11-09). "Lise Davidsen, Erin Morley & George Shirley Announced as OPERA NEWS Awards". OperaWire. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  34. ^ Salazar, Francisco (2024-02-06). "Erin Morley Awarded Knight in the Order of Arts and Letters in France". OperaWire. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  35. ^ "ORC100294 - Erin Morley". Orchid Classics. Retrieved 2024-03-25.
  36. ^ Pentatone, Marketing (2023-12-14). "An Epic Journey Through Handel's 'Alcina'". Pentatone. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
  37. ^ "Robert le Diable". Palazzetto Bru Zane. Retrieved 2024-04-15.

External links[edit]