Barbara Bonney

Barbara Bonney is an American soprano. She is associated with lyric soprano roles in operas by Mozart and Richard Strauss as well as lieder performances. Bonney was born in Montclair, New Jersey. As a child she practised piano and cello. When Bonney was 13 her family moved to Maine, where she became part of the Portland Symphony Youth Orchestra as a cellist. She spent two years at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) studying German and music including voice with Patricia Stedry, and spent her junior year at the University of Salzburg, where she switched from cello to voice. While there, she studied at Mozarteum University Salzburg. Years later she received an honorary doctorate from UNH. In 1979, Bonney joined the Staatstheater Darmstadt, where she made her debut as Anna in The Merry Wives of Windsor. In the subsequent five years she made appearances in Germany and throughout Europe, notably at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden in London and La Scala in Milan. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1987 in Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos in the role of Naiad and her Vienna State Opera debut the same year as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier. Since then, she has appeared at the major opera houses of the world and at the Salzburg Festival, where she was Servilia in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito. Along with her repertoire in opera as a lyric soprano, she is a distinguished recitalist, and has appeared on more than 90 recordings, including 15 solo recitals. For two years, s…