AnnaMaria Cardinalli
Book Release
Sophia Institute Press announced the release of AnnaMaria's latest book, Music and Meaning in the Mass. In a time of great suffering in the world, one might wonder why music bears discussion at all. However, AnnaMaria sees this suffering as the reason music is particularly critical. She argues that musicians, each in their local communities, wield a unique, even mystical power to help the world make the change it needs, centering upon the epic and operatic spiritual journey of the Mass, where the soul encounters Christ truly present! However, non-musicians and non-Catholics are likely to enjoy the read. It addresses many of the reasons why music works to affect us the way it does, and many interesting reasons why Catholics believe what they do. Anyone who has attended AnnaMaria's talks or performances will recognize the book's engaging style in addressing these topics.
Music and Meaning in the Mass is available at all major booksellers. The feature page from Sophia Institute Press, with an extensive reader's preview, links here.
Looking Ahead...
AnnaMaria’s 2020 schedule is already bursting at the seams! It will include Suzuki in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and a reprisal of La Zia Principessa in Santa Fe with Opera West, as well as the Dvorjak Stabat Mater and a special film production of Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez in New York with Orchestra Amadeus to benefit the humanitarian mission of Familia Victricis (www.stcatherinesmission.org). Exciting recordings are on the way too, as are partnerships with some of your favorite Catholic media companies, including content for Ascension Press and a brand new book with Sophia Institute Press! Follow this website for updates and announcements to come!
Enduring Legacy on EWTN
A performance and documentary film through which AnnaMaria explores the enigmatic artistic traditions of New Mexico's Penitente culture is scheduled for its first airing on EWTN to an audience of a quarter billion viewers! Tune in for the premiere on December 28, and check your local time listings at EWTN.com.
NEA Grant Recipient for Performance Film
AnnaMaria and the Catholic association to which she belongs, Familia Victricis, was awarded a prestigious grant by the National Endowment for the Arts to produce a performance and documentary film capturing the relationship between art, Faith, and the sustenance of culture in Northern New Mexico. A preview of the musical elements of the film is available here. AnnaMaria is thrilled to share that she has recently taken vows in Familia Victricis. To learn more about the emerging Society, and its artistic and humanitarian work, visit www.familiavictricis.org.
Exciting News
AnnaMaria is excited to announce her new association with EMBRA Artists Management, an agency with a vision toward "reviving the Grand Opera tradition in the United States," and also representing extraordinary instrumental artists. Information on booking through EMBRA is available on the "Contact" area of this site under "Biography."
La Zia Principessa
March-April, 2016
AnnaMaria enjoyed reprising her signature role of the enigmatic and merciless princess in Puccini's Catholic drama Suor Angelica for Chicago's Opera West. Despite her penchant for and frequent casting in this role, she insists she is actually much friendlier in person!
Carnegie Hall, New York
A performance of John Rutter's inspiring and joyful Magnificat with the New England Symphonic Ensemble and Pontifical Chorus of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Asissi.
Feburary 2016
"Now there is a voice I love... Cardinalli's fabulous sound has that big, true womanly contralto color with great brilliance of tone."
-- Maestro Dr. David Thye
Sea Pictures with Orchestra Amadeus
A concert to combat human trafficking, benefiting the children of New York's Covenant House
October 18, 2015
AnnaMaria returned to New York to perform music close to her heart for a cause close to her heart--the heroic work of Covenant House to rescue and protect the city's often-exploited children of the streets. Elgar's Sea Pictures, a song cycle for contralto that remains rarely performed because of its demmands on the female voice (tasked to convey the "ocean's shadowy might,") turns its praise of the sea ultimately to a heartfelt prayer, revealing the composer's deep Catholic identity and his hope for the triumph of love and healing--a message that could not be more appropriate to the purpose of the performance. Orchesta Amadeus is composed of New York's finest instruementalists united under the baton of Maestro Joseph Jones with the purpose of accomplishing "social justice through classical music." Learn more about Covenant House here.
Saving San Miguel Mission
A concert benefiting the preservation of the oldest church in the United States
September, 2015
Will air globally on EWTN in September, coinciding with the U.S. Papal visit and canonization of Junipero Serra. Follow www.sanmiguelmission.org for details and to purchase your DVD in suppot of the mission.
AIRTIME UPDATES:
USA September 26th at 6 PM (EST)
Africa/India September 23rd at 7:30 AM and September 24th at 4 AM (US EST - not local)
UK/Ireland September 23rd at 7:30 AM and September 24th at 2 AM (US EST - not local)
Latin America TBD
(These are the times and dates for the initial airing only.)
Ring Cycle at Lincoln Center in New York
March 7 - March 21, 2015
“AnnaMaria Cardinalli is, without question, the most formidable contralto I have ever heard or had the pleasure to work with.”
-- Maestro, Albin Konopka
AnnaMaria is often cast in opera’s most mysterious, dark, and even villainous roles. In March of this year, she sang the foreboding First Norn in Wagner’s Gotterdammerung at New York’s Lincoln Center. Also for the New York Lyric Opera in March, she performed the role of La Zia Principessa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica—the antagonist the composer himself calls “a dark figure of aristocratic dignity,” but who nonetheless drives a nun to suicide.
Premio Concurso Internacional, Madrid
December, 2014
An international vocal competition hosted in Spain in which AnnaMaria was awarded the top honor.
“…a contralto of power, great musicality,
and beautiful color, deserving of recognition for her immense talent.”
-- Winning Citation
Arkansas State University
April 16, 2015
A concert program featuring duets with saxophonist Dr. Brent Bristow co-sponsored by Yamaha Artists, as part of Yamaha’s efforts to encourage university music students to the viability of careers in the classical arts through the inspiration of top-tier performers.
San Miguel Mission
Summer, 2014
AnnaMaria offered a popular summer recital series entitled "Legado y Leyenda," providing insight into the story of the people of Northern New Mexico and the amazing significance of the San Miguel Chapel, the oldest church in the U.S. and a world landmark, through the medium of voice and the Spanish guitar. All proceeds went directly to benefit the urgent structural preservation of San Miguel’s bell tower, keeping this important piece of history from crumbling!
This concert will be broadcast
globally as a music special on EWTN in 2015.
Tuscia Operafestival, Italy
Summer, 2013
AnnaMaria made her European operatic debut in the role that has now become a signature for her, that of La Zia Principessa in Puccini's Suor Angelica.
