Danielle Talamantes

“It’s not often that an operagoer is fortunate enough to witness the birth of a star!,” critics hailed for Danielle Talamantes’ recent role début as Violetta in La traviata. Last season before the pandemic ground everything to a hault, Talamantes debuted with VA Opera as Beatrice in Daniel Catán’s “Il postino” and appeared as soprano soloist with the Eugene Concert Chorale in a Beethoven Celebration. Other works postponed and slated for future seasons include: soprano soloist with the Pensacola Symphony in Verdi’s “Requiem”, a world premier for soprano soloist, choir, and orchestra at her Alma Mater, Virginia Tech, the masterwork Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, another world premier of the rhapsody written for Danielle and orchestra based on T.S. Eliot’s iconic “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” with the National Philharmonic Orchestra, and finally, a third world premier, “Kohelet”, by acclaimed composer Henry Dehlinger with the Santa Clara Master Chorale.

In recent seasons, Talamantes performed Violetta in a debut with Hawaii Opera Theatre in their production of “La traviata”, Mimì in “La bohéme” with Fairfax Symphony and in a return to The Metropolitan Opera to reprise the role of Frasquita for their productions of “Carmen.”  In addition, she appeared as a soloist in multiple classical masterworks including Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9  and Faure’s “Requiem” at Carnegie Hall, Verdi’s Requiem with Fairfax Symphony and the National Philharmonic, Fauré’s “Requiem” and Vaughan Williams’ “Serenade to Music” with Eugene Concert Choir, Händel’s “Messiah” with La Jolla Symphony, “Elijah” with DC-based Choralis, and in the National Philharmonic’s Bernstein Choral Celebration concert.

Other recent performances featured Talamantes performing the role of Marzelline in Beethoven’s “Fidelio” with the Princeton Festival; Mimì in “La bohéme” with the St Petersburg (FL) Opera and Symphony of Northwest Arkansas; the title role of “Susannah” with Opera Roanoke; Anna in “Nabucco” and Frasquita in “Carmen” with The Metropolitan Opera; Violetta in “La traviata” with Finger Lakes Opera and Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre; Donna Anna in “Don Giovanni” at Cedar Rapids Opera Theater; a début at Spoleto Festival USA as Sergente in “Veremonda.”

Additional concert works include Mozart’s “Requiem” with Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Cathedral Choral Society, and Fairfax Symphony; Brahms’ “Requiem” with National Philharmonic, Choralis and St. Mary’s College; Villa-Lobos’s “Bachianas brasileiras No. 5”, Bach’s “Magnificat”, and Fiordiligi in “Così fan tutte” with the National Philharmonic; Mozart’s “Mass in C minor”, Handel’s “Laudate pure dominum”, and Charpentier’s “Te Deum” with The City Choir of Washington; Händel’s “Messiah” with Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, United States Naval Academy, National Philharmonic, The New Choral Society, and Austin Symphony & Chorus Austin; Poulenc’s “Gloria” with Arizona State University’s Symphony Orchestra; Verdi’s “Requiem” with Choral Artists of Sarasota and the Oratorio Society of VA; soprano soloist in Bob Chilcott’s “Requiem” at Alice Tulley Hall; Dvořák’s “Stabat Mater” at North Carolina Master Chorale; Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” with Manchester Symphony Orchestra; and recitals and masterclasses with El Paso Pro-Musica, Rutgers University, Washington & Lee University, James Madison University, Point Loma University, and Catawba College.

Talamantes recently released her third collaborative album with pianist, arranger, and composer in “At That Hour: Art Songs by Henry Dehlinger”; this recording also features her husband, bass-baritone Kerry Wilkerson in songs written expressly for their voices (this can be found on the Avie Record Label). Other albums, “Canciones españolas” and “Heaven and Earth: A Duke Ellington Songbook” can be found on the MSR Classics label.