Ann Moss - Soprano
Classical / Experimental
Richmond, CA
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About
Praised for "beautifully pure floated high notes," "luminous tone" and "impressive agility," soprano Ann Moss enjoys an active career in chamber music, opera, oratorio and recital performance. Recognized as a champion of contemporary vocal music, Ms. Moss is frequently sought out by composers to co-create new works, and takes immense pleasure in the construction of first performances. She has collaborated with acclaimed composers Jake Heggie, John Harbison, Aaron Jay Kernis, Eric Sawyer, and Vartan Aghababian, as well as with emerging artists JooWan Kim, Liam Wade, and Jacob Bertrand.
This summer Ann participated as a guest artist at CSU Summer Arts' Composer/Performer Collaboration Workshop at CSU Fresno. She joined esteemed composers Howard Frazin, Benjamin Boone, and Ken Froelich, violist Kurt Rohde, pianist Guy Livingstone, violinist Stephan Poetzsch, ensemble-in-residence Kronos Quartet, and an extremely talented group of students, to explore the collaborative process among composers and performers of new music.
Engagements in the 2007-08 season included the premiere of Pulitzer winner Wayne Peterson's Freedom and Love for Soprano and Percussion with Earplay, an encore performance at the Sacramento Festival of New Music, and a presentation of Pulitzer winner Aaron Jay Kernis' song cycle Two Awakenings and a Double Lullaby with Axel Strauss, David Tannenbaum, and the composer at the piano. In February, Ann presented an evening of new American chamber music for soprano, string quartet, harp and piano. The program, which featured the Yeager String Quartet, Kristal Schwartz, and Steve Bailey, included four works written specifically for Ann by Boston and Bay Area composers. In March, she performed Samuel Barber's 3 Songs (1974) and solos in John Rutter's Requiem with pianist and conductor Martin Morley, two recent compositions of Dieter Schnebel at Other Minds Festival 13, and Erik Jekabson's A Step Away From Them at the Switchboard Music Festival. April found her taking a step back in time to perform Schubert's penultimate art song, Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, with San Francisco Symphony clarinetist Carey Bell and TRIAD pianist Bryndon Hassman at Noe Valley Chamber Music. In May she joined Berkeley Opera to sing the roles of Fire, Princess and Nightingale in a production of Ravel's 1925 opera, L'enfant et les sortilèges. In June she teamed up with guitarist Richard Savino at Boston's Jordan Hall for the opening night of Boston Guitarfest, featuring Baroque music of Spain and South America. The remainder of the summer finds her workshopping new projects with composers JooWan Kim, Liam Wade and dance anthropologist Justin Lemos for performances in the fall.
Contemporary music projects in 2006-07 season included the world premiere of Eric Sawyer's Itasca, a work combining music, electronics, movement and spoken word, at UC Berkeley's CMNAT; three concerts of new vocal chamber music in collaboration with the Ives String Quartet and Mockingbird Vocal Quartet; SF Song Festival's Hook Line and Singer II program; and a program of new music for voices and jazz ensemble with the Eric Jekabson Vista Nonet. Ann was also privileged to perform John Thow's song cycle On Love at a memorial concert commemorating the life and works of the composer.
Ann holds a special interest in song recital design and performance. She has won three first place titles in the San Francisco American Art Song Competition, first place in two divisions of the California NATS Singing Festival, was a district finalist in the California NATS Artists Awards Competition, and a regional finalist in the New England NATSAA Competition. In 2003, she co-founded Boston Art Song Collective (BASC), which continues to showcase innovative concert programming for diverse audiences. She attended the internationally renowned Songfest program for two consecutive years.
Recent performances of oratorio and concert repertoire include Pergolesi Stabat Mater, Bach Magnificat, Fauré Requiem, Handel Messiah, Mendelssohn Lauda Sion, Hindemith Die Serenaden, Strauss Brentano Lieder, Bach Matthäuspassion, and Bach's solo Cantata Jauchzet Gott (BWV 51). Ann holds a Post Graduate Degree in Voice from San Francisco Conservatory of Music (2005), a Master of Music in Voice from Longy School of Music (2002), and a Bachelor of Arts from Hampshire College (1999). Ann's stage roles include Blonde (Die Entfuhrung aus dem Seraglio) Nannetta (Falstaff), Despina (Cosi fan tutte), Le Feu/La princesse/Le rossignol (L'enfant et les sortileges) and Dew Fairy (Hansel and Gretel). She has performed in Master Classes with esteemed artists including Jose Van Dam, Nathan Gunn, Graham Johnson, Martin Katz, Jake Heggie, John Harbison, Craig Smith, and Barbara Kilduff. Her teachers include Sheri Greenawald, Wendy Hillhouse, Anna Gabriali and Rodney Gisick; she has received coaching from Steven Bailey, Brian Moll, Paul Hersh, Wayman Chen, Brenda Miller, and Tim Bach, among others. Ann was born in Lincoln MA, and resides and teaches in Richmond, CA.
Ann is a Reiki practitioner and student of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
