"[Claudia Waite] combined a powerful, clarion soprano with the comic attitude
that called to mind Madeline Kahn
at her most antic."
(Tulsa World)

Soprano Claudia Waite is an active soloist at the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center in New York City. She has been a guest artist with Opera Orchestra of New York, Dallas Opera, San Francisco Opera,l'Opera de Lyon, Opera Centrum Nederland, New Israeli Opera and many other major operas and orchestras around the world. Ms. Waite has been hailed by the press as "superlatively gifted", "perfection in her own right", and a "dominant musical force onstage". Worldwide audiences saw the soprano as a featured soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, under the baton of Maestro Seiji Ozawa, at the Opening Ceremonies of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Since her debut bow at the Metropolitan Opera as the Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte, the soprano has participated in such diverse productions as Dialogues des Carmelites, War and Peace, Der Rosenkavalier, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Nabucco, Don Giovanni and Carmen. As a former Adler Fellow, Ms. Waite has appeared in numerous productions at San Francisco Opera, including Macbeth, Elektra, Die Walküre, Cosí fan tutte, La Boheme, Rusalka, and the North American premiere of Sir Michael Tippett's King Priam. The soprano's repertoire includes many of opera's most exciting leading ladies: Sieglinde (Die Walküre), Countess Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), and Leonora (Fidelio and Il Trovatore); the comedic roles of Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus), Fata Morgana (L'Amour des Trois Oranges), and La Duchesse (La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein); as well as the title characters of Turandot, Lucrezia Borgia, Anna Bolena and Elisabetta, Regina d'Inghilterra.

As a concert artist, Ms. Waite has appeared as the soprano soloist in the Verdi Requiem, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, and Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915. As a soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the soprano has appeared with the Jacksonville Symphony, Tulsa Philharmonic, New Japan Philharmonic, and with the San Francisco Opera, as part of the United Nations 50th Anniversary Celebration. The Houston Philharmonic, New Haven Symphony, Abilene Philharmonic, San Angelo Symphony, Abbey Road Concert Series (London), Sonora Bach Festival, and Kerrville Performing Arts Series have all featured the soprano in concerts programmed with the great standards of operatic repertoire. Art song recitals are a staple of the soprano's annual performance calendar.

The 2006-2007 season marked several company debuts for the soprano: Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at New York City Opera, in concert with the New York Gay Men's Chorus at Avery Fisher Hall, her first New York City song recital to benefit the musical philanthropies of Sigma Alpha Iota, at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a concert of Richard Strauss' Elektra, and a company and role debut as Lady Billows in Albert Herring with Opera North. Summer of 2006 marked the soprano's return to Japan on tour with the Metropolitan Opera in Die Walküre and Don Giovanni, followed by performances of Die Zauberflöte and Il Barbiere di Siviglia during the 2006-07 season at the Metropolitan. Summer of 2007 finds the soprano returning to Opera North for the title role of Turandot  and Alice Ford in Falstaff,  while Nevada Opera welcomes the soprano's return for their 40th Anniversary Gala and as the title character in Aïda. The 2007-2008 Metropolitan Opera season finds the soprano reprising roles in War & Peace, Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Die Walküre. Summer of 2008 will be spent at Glimmerglass Opera where the soprano will sing Isabella in the American stage premier of Richard Wagner's  Das Liebesverbot.  

Ms. Waite can be heard on the Albany Press release "An American Voice: The Music of Robert Nelson". Soon to be released on DVD is the soprano's performance in the  new Metropolitan Opera production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, recently rebroadcast on PBS' Great Performances.

Email Ms. Waite at claudia@claudiawaite.com.