Rebecca Ringle, Mezzo-soprano

Biography

Praised by Opera News for her "richly focused voice" of "striking power and depth," young mezzo-soprano Rebecca Ringle's performances have brought her acclaim on operatic and concert stages.

Ms. Ringle's 2011-2012 engagements include her return to the Metropolitan Opera for their full run of Der Ring der Niebelungen and Messiahs with The National Chorale, Jacksonville Symphony and Augustana College. She continues her work with Ars Antiqua Baroque Orchestra in a program of Bach arias and bows with New York's Metamorphoses Orchestra as Alto Soloist in Dvorak's Stabat Mater and as Irene in Theodora by Handel.

In the 2010-2011 season, Ms. Ringle joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera for their productions of Nixon in China (Adams/Sellars), Die Walküre (Levine/LePage), and Rigoletto (Luisi/Schenk). She performed the title role in Handel's Ariodante with the Princeton Festival, made her role debut as Dido in Dido and Aeneas with the Macau International Music Festival in China, appeared with Baltimore's Opera Vivente as Armida in the American premier of Handel's Rinaldo (1731) and at the Bard Summerscape Festival as Queen Leda in Strauss's Die Liebe der Danae.

During the 2009-2010 season, she covered the role of Rosmira in Handel's Partenope with New York City Opera and appeared with the New York Metamorphoses Orchestra as the title role in Handel's Susanna, and with the National Chorale as Alto Soloist in Mozart's Requiem and Haydn's Mass in Time of War. She  also collaborated with New York's art.party.theater.company in Bad Romance an innovative setting of Schumann's Dichterliebe and Eichendorff Liederkreis.

In Fall 2009 she returned to Ars Antiqua Baroque Orchestra, performing arias from Handel's Saul and Alexander's Feast, and appeared as Hansel in Hänsel und Gretel with Piedmont Opera. During the summer of 2009 she returned to the acclaimed Marlboro Music Festival, performing music of Schumann and Fauré. Additional 2009 engagements included performances as Suzuki with Cedar Rapids Opera, Hyppolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Princeton Festival, alto soloist in Bach's St. Matthew Passion with the Richmond Symphony and a return to Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall with de Falla's Siete Cancones Populares Españolas.

Rebecca's debut as Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana with New York City Opera in October 2007 was hailed as "sultry" and "sweetly sung" by The Wall Street Journal and London's Financial Times. She continued with NYCO during the 2007-2008 season as Suzuki (Madama Butterfly) and Dorothée (Cendrillon). In 2007, she also performed as Rossweise in Die Walküre with Washington National Opera directed by Francesca Zambello and covered the role of the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos with Utah Opera.

Rebecca Ringle made her professional debut as Tebaldo in Don Carlo with the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst. She has performed with Milan's Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi as a soloist in Piazzolla's Songe d'une Nuit d'été and as Pâtre/La chatte in L'enfant et les sortilèges and has performed Handel's Messiah with Branford Camerata and the Richmond and Utah Symphonies.

Ms. Ringle has received awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, The José Iturbi International Voice Competition, the Spazio Musica Orvieto Concorso per Cantanti Lirici and the Heida Hermanns International Opera Competition. She competed in Vienna at the international level of the 2007 Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition.

A regular performer of new music, Rebecca has worked with composers Sarah Kirkland Snider, Paola Prestini, Miriama Young, Ricky Ian Gordon and Kenneth Frazelle and performed with the  New Millenium Ensemble and at Joe's Pub with the Coterie. She has performed Schoenberg's Das buch der hängenden Gärten, Berg's Sieben früher lieder, Argento's Casa Guidi, and Bolcom's I will breathe a Mountain in recital. She has several times premiered vocal music as part of New York City Opera's VOX showcase and in 2011 will join American Opera Projects for their Composers and the Voice series. In August 2010, she performed with composer/guitarist Tyondai Braxton and jazz pianist Ethan Iverson in a video to promote the release of the book Listen to This by music and cultural writer Alex Ross.

Rebecca is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory and The Yale School of Music. At Yale her roles included Dorabella (Cosi fan tutte), Hermia (A Midsummer Night's Dream) and Jacqueline (Le medecin malgre lui). She appeared as Alto Soloist in concert with the Yale Philharmonia under Sir Neville Marriner in Mozart's Coronation Mass, and under Krzysztof Penderecki in the composer's Credo Mass. In March 2006, she performed the Schoenberg arrangement of Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with Orchestra New England. At Oberlin her roles included Ruggiero in Handel's Alcina.

Ms. Ringle holds a B.A. with Highest Honors in Comparative Literature from Oberlin College. She lives in New York City.