Distinguished Soprano Christina Major To Perform With Morris Choral Society May 18 and 19

The Morris Choral Society is pleased to announce that soprano Christina Major will perform as featured soloist in its upcoming Spring Concert "Greatest Hits from Opera and Broadway" in two performances Saturday May 18 at 8:00pm and Sunday May 19 at 3:00pm at the historic United Methodist Church on the Green in Morristown, New Jersey. MCS Music Director Jason Tramm will lead the distinguished Morris Choral Society and guest soloist Christina Major in a concert of unforgettable music written by the greatest composers of Opera and Broadway. Due to a conflict, Christina Major will replace Susanne Burgess in the program.

In both the concert hall and on the operatic stage, North American dramatic coloratura soprano Christina Major is recognized from coast to coast by critics and audience alike for her sumptuous and agile "Italianate sound" and as an "exhilarating force (that) dominates the stage when she sings." For the Morris Choral Society's upcoming concert Ms. Major will perform Pietro Mascagni's Easter Hymn from Cavalleria Rusticana; two arias by Giuseppe Verdi, Brindisi from La Traviata and "La Vergine degli Angeli" from La Forza del Destino; and Giacomo Puccini "Vissi d'arte" from Tosca.

Christina Major has been praised by Opera News who called her a "sensitive actress" who "brought about the highest emotional stakes of the evening." San Jose Mercury News wrote she is "probably the best Lucrezia anywhere today." The San Francisco Chronicle described her performance as Lucrezia in Verdi's I Due Foscari as displaying "expressive verve and technical command." San Francisco Chronicle critic Joshua Kosman wrote "Again, and again she unleashed powerful, perfectly placed high notes and athletic passage work that underscored the vitality of the vocal writing. She brought beauty and pathos to Lucrezia's Act 1 aria "Tu al cui sguardo omnipossente" and "railed against her father-in-law with unbridled ferocity that never wavered in pitch or rhythm."

The Dallas Morning News has acknowledged her as the "...standout, alternating fire and subtler warmth with touching, real emotional depths." The San Francisco Chronicle said she is a "fascinating and hugely talented singer," with a "magnetic presence and vocal brilliance," and the Oakland Tribune called her performance of Violetta as "literally and figuratively worth dying for." Her recent triumphs have been performances of the Verdi Requiem most recently with Symphony Silicon Valley and the Stockton Symphony. "Of the four soloists, [Christina] Majors projected the greatest ease: floating, sparkling, resounding; a range of effects. "(San Jose Mercury News)

In addition to her performance with the Morris Choral Society this season, Ms. Major's upcoming US engagements for 2019/2020 include a May concert performance of the Mahler No. 2 Resurrection Symphony with the Flint Symphony under the baton of Maestro Enrique Diemecke. In June Christina returns to Carnegie Hall as the evening's soprano soloist with the New England Symphonic Ensemble in the Rutter Magnificat and Mass of the Children followed by Vaughan Williams' Dona nobis pacem. In July she will once again perform in San Francisco's Midsummer Mozart Festival in a program of Mozart concert arias. August of 2019 will find Ms. Major on the East Coast performing with the Greenville Symphony in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

Ms. Major's prior performances included those of the 2017/2018 Season which featured her highly anticipated international debut at the famed Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina in the principal role of Norma, under the baton of Maestro Renato Palumbo. On the concert stage Ms. Major made her Carnegie Hall debut with Mid America Productions as the soprano soloist for Haydn's Missa Cellensis and Vivaldi's Gloria and performed with the Greenville Symphony in Verdi's Messa da Requiem. Ms. Major's operatic stage appearances included her debut in the role of Norma with West Bay Opera in San Francisco as well as in the rarely performed I due Foscari where she sang the role of Lucrezia to critical acclaim.

In recent seasons Ms. Major has performed with the Jacksonville Symphony in Vaughan-Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem with Maestro Robert Moody and returning to Symphony Silicon Valley in Carmina Burana with South American Conductor Carlos Vieu. She has sung with the Greenville Symphony in "Music from the Heavens", an evening of numerous works including Verdi's Te Deum, Poulenc's Gloria and Mascagni's Easter Hymn from Cavalleria Rusticana under the masterful baton of Russian born Maestro Edvard Tchivzhel.

In the 2012/13 season, she debuted with the Santa Rosa Symphony with Bruno Ferrandis conducting in their new home, the incomparable Weill Concert Hall. The program, titled "The Titans of Opera," presented Ms. Major in a suite of Verdi arias. The review stated "...a solitary musician stole the show: American soprano Christina Major. If your name is destiny, this powerful singer will have a major career."

The Verdi Requiem features prominently in Ms. Major's concert repertoire. Performances have included Symphony Silicon Valley and the Stockton Symphony. Her 2010 debut performances of this piece in Fort Worth TX at Bass Performance Hall received rave reviews.

Ms. Major was a featured soloist for the Midsummer Mozart Festival in San Francisco consecutive years from 2005-2012 where she performed the role of Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, masterworks such as the Great C minor Mass and virtuosic concert arias. In the 2011-12 season she debuted in the role of Elettra in Idomeneo in a co-production with Opera San Jose and Packard Humanities Institute and she sang the role of Donna Anna in West Bay Opera's production of Don Giovanni.

Ms. Major was a resident artist twice for Opera San Jose, first from 1998 to 2000 and then again in 2003 to 2004. Since those residencies, she has forged a significant career in several roles, most especially those of Mozart, Verdi and Puccini. Violetta is one of the roles that this artist has an affinity for and has been seen with numerous companies already including Nevada Opera, Rimrock Opera, Opera Coeur d'Alene in addition to performances with Opera San Jose. She has performed Mimi in La Boheme, Cio-Cio San in Madame Butterfly, Violetta in La Traviata, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Nedda in Pagliacci, and many others with companies such as Knoxville Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Opera Coeur D'Alene, Amarillo Opera, Nevada Opera, and two seasons as an apprentice and cover artist at Santa Fe Opera.

Ms. Major has regularly performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Verdi's Messa di Requiem, Brahms Requiem, Orff's Carmina Burana, Mendelssohn's St. Paul, Mozart's C Minor Mass, Mahler's Symphony No. 2, Poulenc Gloria, Vaughan-Williams' Dona nobis pacem, Mozart's Exultate Jubilate and Handel's Messiah with notable organizations such as The National Philharmonic, Delaware Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Colorado Music Festival, Fairbanks Symphony in Alaska, Florida Bach Festival, Greenville Symphony in South Carolina, Tucson Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Dallas Symphony Chorus, Duke University Chorale, Winston-Salem Symphony, and Symphony Silicon Valley.

Ms. Major's awards include Grand Finalist at the 2012 and 2013 Irene Dalis Vocal Competition, a Grant winner at the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation competition in 2009 and 2010, a second prizewinner in the Gerda Lissner Foundation in 2010 and second prize winner in the Trujillo, Peru Concurso Internacional de Canto Lirico in 2007.

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