Ann McMahon Quintero

Mezzo-soprano

A true singing actor, Ann McMahon Quintero has never known a life without an audience to entertain. From her early days as an instrumentalist, chorister and dancer, she has evolved into a mezzo-soprano who enjoys a career on the operatic and concert stage where her rich voice has been praised for “warm, honeyed tones” (Baltimore Sun), and “fully nuanced” portrayals of characters ranging from Verdi’s Amneris, Azucena and Mistress Quickly to the Old Lady in Candide. In all she does, Ann McMahon Quintero brings to the stage deep intelligence, brilliant artistry and unmatched confidence.

Ms. Quintero’s recent orchestral engagements have included appearances with Boston Baroque—with whom she frequently performs—as soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Haydn’s Requiem in C Minor, and in their annual Messiah. She has also sung Messiah with the the Charlotte and Alabama Symphony Orchestras and the National Symphony Orchestra. She has performed as soloist for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Williamsburg and Columbus Symphonies and the Buffalo Philharmonic with JoAnn Falletta. She recorded Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 under the direction of Maestro Falletta with the Virginia Arts Festival as well.

Nationwide engagements with The Defiant Requiem Foundation performing Hours of Freedom: The Story of the Terezin Composers and the Verdi Requiem have brought Ms. Quintero to Chicago, Detroit, New York’s Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall, She has also performed the Verdi Requiem with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Cathedral Choral Society Washington, Brevard Music Center, Berkshire Choral, Southwest Florida Symphony and the South Bend Symphony.

Also with Berkshire Choral, Ms. Quintero has performed Haydn’s Paukenmesse at Carnegie Hall, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater and Requiem, Vivaldi’s Gloria, and Britten’s Spring Symphony.

Her recent operatic appearances have included The Old Lady in Candide with Arizona and Portland Opera; Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera with Austin Lyric Opera, Suor Pazienza in Giordano’s Mese Mariano with the Spoleto Festival (USA), Mary in Der fliegende Holländer and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Boston Lyric Opera, Mistress Quickly in Falstaff with Virginia Opera, Opera Delaware and Opéra de Lausanne; Amneris in Aida with Annapolis Opera; Azucena in Il trovatore at both Musica Viva Hong Kong and Opéra Royal de Wallonie and in a concert performance of Guillaume Tell with Opera Orchestra of New York. Her operatic roles with Boston Baroque have included the title role in Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans, Storgé in Handel’s Jephtha, and Cornelia in Handel’s Giulio Cesare.

Ms. Quintero made her international operatic debut with New Israeli Opera as La Haine in Gluck’s Armide and returned to the company as Marquise Melibea in Il viaggio a Reims. She sang Baba the Turk in The Rake’s Progress with Angers Nantes Opera; joined Teatro alla Scala for its production of Lorin Maazel’s 1984; sang Olga Olsen in Street Scene with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Isabella in L’italiana in Algeri with Palm Beach Opera; Gertrude in Roméo et Juliette with Toledo Opera; and Glaša in Kátya Kabanová and Teresa in La sonnambula with The Santa Fe Opera. Other roles include Auntie in Peter Grimes, Tisbe in La Cenerentola, and Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte with Washington National Opera.

Ms. Quintero is a 2006 winner of the Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation; second place winner of the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Vocal Competition; the George London Foundation; Sullivan Foundation; and was a semi-finalist in Plácido Domingo’s Operalia. She sang at the National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honors Inaugural Awards Concert in 2008. She was a 2002 Grand National Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and made her first appearance on the Met stage in the Grand Finals Concert with Julius Rudel.

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