| Darla Wigginton Artist's Website >> Ms. Wigginton has sung with the opera companies of Portland, Connecticut, Illinois, San Jose, South Florida, and Eugene as well as with Natchez Opera Festival, Festival Opera, Ash Lawn-Highland Summer Festival, Opera Barga (Italy), Opera Florham, Pocket Opera, Jefferson Performing Arts Society, Oakland Lyric and Oakland Opera Theatre, Lamplighters Music Theatre, Theatreworks, Bronx Opera, West Bay Opera, Il Piccolo Teatro, and American Opera Projects. She has performed as soloist with the San Francisco Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic, Sacramento Choral Society and at Lincoln Center in New York. Operatic roles include the title characters in Carmen, La Cenerentola, La Périchole, Hänsel in Hänsel and Gretel, as well as the Old Lady in Candide, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte, the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, the Commère in Four Saints in Three Acts, Elmire in Kirke Mechem’s Tartuffe, Mrs. McLean in Susannah, Mercedes in Carmen, Mrs. Nolan in The Medium, Second and Third Ladies in The Magic Flute, Marthe in Faust, and Bulotte in Offenbach's Bluebeard. On the concert stage, Ms. Wigginton has performed with the San Francisco Symphony (conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas) as Alto Soloist/Courtesan in Le Rossingol, in Falla’s El Amor Brujo, Dvorak's Stabat Mater with Sacramento Choral Society, Mozart's Requiem with Sacramento Philharmonic (conducted by Michael Morgan), Vivaldi’s Gloria, Handel’s Messiah and a chamber orchestra production of Handel’s Atalanta as well as concerts and recitals in California, Mississippi, Illinois, New York, Virginia, Vermont and Oregon. A versatile performer, Ms. Wigginton has performed on the musical theatre/operetta stage as Mary in Jesus Christ Superstar, Amy in Where's Charley, Katisha and Pitti-Sing in The Mikado, Tessa in The Gondoliers, the title role in Iolanthe, the Madwoman in the Attic in Jane Eyre, Stepmother in Into the Woods and Liebeslieder/Charlotte (cover) in A Little Night Music. She has worked on original pieces with new composers at Theatreworks, George Coates’ Performance Works, The Marsh and the SomArts Festival in the Bay Area and The Friends and Enemies of New Music and American Opera Projects in New York. Works include an original production entitled Flurry Tales (Rusty Magee), which performed at Lincoln Center in New York, staged readings of The Mistress Cycle (by Beth Blatt and Jennifer Gierling), George Coates A Virtual Sho. the second installment of Hector Armienta's trilogy about the Mexican heroine La Llorona, and Carla Lucero's new work Suor Juana - in the latter two playing the title roles. In collaboration with Anja Strauss and Lara Bruckmann, the group Girlkulture, a classical cabaret performing the music of Holläender, Weill, Spoliansky, Gershwin and Cole Porter is continuing to build a following. In 2004, Oakland Opera Theatre's West Coast premiere of Philip Glass' Akhnaten - in which Ms. Wigginton played Nefertiti to countertenor Paul Flight's Akhnaten - was called "one of the musical events of the year" by Joshuan Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle. Other recent highlights include Marthe in Sacramento Opera's Faust and Tisbe in La Cenerentola. In 2005, she was seen in the role of The Old Lady in Festival Opera's production of Candide. In March 2005, Ms Wigginton sang the roles of Giovanna and Maddalena in Eugene Opera's production of Rigoletto. Upcoming performances include Alto Soloist/Courtesan with the San Francisco Symphony in Le Rossignol, Ruth in Pirates of Penzance with Lamplighters Music Theatre, Alto Soloist in Vivaldi's Gloria with Fresno Philharmonic and the title role in The Rape of Lucretia with San Francisco Lyric. O1C Performances: Ariela & Inara Morgenstern's Classical Cabaret Icons, Divas & Dreamgirls |
