Diane Alexander
Soprano
New England First Place Winner 1991

“The composer gives Susannah two of American opera’s most beautiful arias, both movingly delivered by soprano Diane Alexander…controlling her ample voice for maximum dramatic effect, Alexander conveys Susannah’s disintegration scene-by-scene by means of vocal coloration, body language, facial expression, hairstyle and dress. It’s the performance of a lifetime.” The Denver Post

Over the course of a fine career, Diane Alexander has achieved recognition as one of the major singing-actresses of her generation, winning the respect and admiration of her colleagues and thrilling audiences along the way. Her reputation is one of bringing consistent musical and dramatic excellence to her roles in both opera and operetta, which is evident in the tremendous critical acclaim she has received, particularly for such signature roles as Susannah in Susannah, Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow, Violetta in La Traviata and Manon in Manon. Of Alexander’s Manon in New Orleans, the Times-Picayune wrote that she was “the foremost asset to the production” and noted that she sang the role “with smooth grace and quicksilver fluidity.”

One of today’s foremost interpreters of American opera, Diane Alexander has received high praise for her portrayals of roles such as Curley’s Wife in Of Mice and Men, which she sang in a new Francesca Zambello production with The Washington National Opera, followed by productions with Utah Opera, San Diego Opera and Florentine Opera. Alexander was asked by composer Carlisle Floyd to create the role of Mary Willis Tweedy in his opera Cold Sassy Tree for the World Premiere with Houston Grand Opera, and she is featured on the original cast recording (released in 2005). Other classic portrayals of American heroines include Baby Doe in The Ballad of Baby Doe and Abigail in The Crucible; Anne Trulove in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress is another favorite role.

Susannah Polk, another Floyd leading lady, has become a staple of Alexander’s repertoire. Perhaps there is no greater testimonial to Alexander’s identification with the role of Susannah than that of Phyllis Curtin (the original Susannah and one of Alexander’s great mentors). In a 1999 interview with Opera News, Curtin had “special praise for young soprano Diane Alexander, who sang the role at Central City in 1997. “She came to work on it with me, and I ended up listening to her sing the whole role through,” Curtin recalls. “But I died just a little inside.” The Daily Camera echoed these sentiments in its review of the Central City production: “One feels that Floyd wrote the title role of his opera specifically for her, always vocally superb …it’s hard to imagine that Alexander at present has an equal in this role.”

In more traditional repertoire, recent engagements include Violetta in La Traviata with Opera Carolina, Nevada Opera and Augusta Opera; Leila in Les Pêcheurs de Perles with Michigan Opera Theatre, Nashville Opera and Indianapolis Opera, and Musetta in La Bohème with Central City Opera, Minnesota Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Opera Grand Rapids and Des Moines Metro Opera.

Diane Alexander’s facility with spoken dialogue, her physical grace and deep personal charm are among the qualities which have made her an ideal operetta heroine. In the United States today, it is hard to imagine a production of The Merry Widow without her at its center. Florentine Opera calls Alexander “the national leading interpreter” of the role of Hanna Glawari; she sings the role with them this fall, marking her 13 thWidow production. Previous productions include Hawaii Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Chautauqua Opera, Opera Omaha, Arizona Opera, Opera Columbus, Lyric Opera Kansas City, and New Orleans Opera. Alexander has had similar success as Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, which she has performed with Indianapolis Opera, Nashville Opera, Augusta Opera, Chattanooga Opera and Symphony and Fresno Grand Opera, as well as with other leading ladies of operetta such as Rose Marie (Rose Marie), Kathie (The Student Prince) and Marianne (The New Moon). In Musical Theater, Alexander’s versatility as a singing actress caught the eye of Hal Prince, who cast her as Carlotta in the San Francisco production of The Phantom of the Opera.

After graduating cum laude from Rhode Island College with a Bachelor of Music in Performance, Diane Alexander was a Young Artist with the Tanglewood Music Festival, and subsequently spent two summers at San Francisco Opera’s famed Merola Program, where she was the recipient of the Richard Strauss and Il Cenacolo Awards. Alexander was fortunate to have been given the opportunity to sing Micaela in Carmen with the New York City Opera National Touring Company and Violetta in La Traviata with Western Opera Theatre’s National Tour. Significant career honors include a Sullivan Foundation Career Grant, a Liederkranz Foundation Award, and twice advancing to the finals of the McAllister Competition. She was the New England Regional Finalist of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and was given the Willard Achievement Award by Rhode Island College, which has named her their “Outstanding Alumna.”

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