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Having been dubbed a “fascinating and hugely talented singer” by the San Francisco Chronicle, young American Soprano Christina Major is becoming known for her versatile lyric soprano whose repertoire includes Mozart, Rossini, Handel, Gounod, Stravinski, Bizet, Verdi, and Puccini.
The 2007 season saw Ms. Major in concert with the Delaware Symphony in Carmina Burana as well as the Winston-Salem Symphony in Mahler's Second Symphony. She reprised Carmina with the Colorado Music Fest in the summer under the baton of Michael Christie. In November 2007 she won third prize in the International Concurso de Trujillo in Peru. As a result she was featured with the Trujillo Symphony in concert and a recital in Lima, Peru at the Spanish Cultural Embassy. She was also a featured soloist in recital with the Arizona Music Festival. Ms. Major's 2006 debut with the Ft. Worth Opera as Mimi in La Boheme was a huge success where she was praised as having "brought back memories of the earlier singers." In April Ms. Major sang Mozart's C Minor Mass with the Duke University Chorale and the Orchestra Pro Cantores followed by performances of Brahms' Requiem in Fairbanks, Alaska. In June she made her debut with the National Philharmonic in Mozart's C Minor Mass with great success. In June she made her international debut in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Montevideo, Uruguay with the Dallas Symphony Chorus singing Brahms Requiem. Future engagements include joining the Tucscon Symphony for Handel's Messiah in 2007 and in 2008 she will sing a Masterworks series including Mozart's Exultate Jubliate and Strauss' Voices of Spring. Also in 2008 Ms. Major will then revisit the Mahler No. 2 Symphony with the Greenville Symphony. She will join Maestro David Davidson, director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus in singing Mendelssohn's St Paul. In July 2008 Ms. Major will rejoin the Midsummer Mozart Festival and sing Kostanze in a semi staged version of Die Entfuhrung auf dem Serail followed by another appearance with Opera Plus in Northern Idaho as Violetta in La Traviata.
The 2005-06 season featured Ms. Major in her debut with the Phoenix Symphony in Carmina Burana as well as her return to San Francisco's Midsummer Mozart Festival in performances of Mozart’s C minor Mass with great success. Just after performing the role of Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia in northern Idaho, she participated as a soloist in the National Endowment for the Arts "Great American Voices" national initiative. She then returned to the role of Violetta at Rimrock Opera in Billings Montana where she was named as one of the "crowning moments of 2005" in "Enjoy" magazine.
In 2003, Ms. Major sang the role of an Accuser/Victim in the world Premier of Bright Sheng’s Madam Mao at Santa Fe Opera. Just prior to that summer season, she was invited to Santa Fe Opera in the fall for performances of Pirates of Penzance. Ms. Major also sang the role of Mimi in La Boheme with the Knoxville Opera with Maestro Frank Graffeo. She was invited back to Opera San Jose where she sang the role of Nedda in Pagliacci. In 2004 she sang the roles of Leila in Le Pecheurs de Perles, a role which she also covered at San Diego Opera as well as singing Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus. She was also a featured soloist with the Midsummer Mozart Festival in San Francisco.
In 2002, Christina sang the role of the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Amarillo Opera. That summer she was invited to Santa Fe Opera where she covered the role of Violetta in La Traviata, a role she has just performed with Nevada Opera in 2001 to an emotional standing ovation from the audience. In 1998, Ms. Major became the youngest singer ever selected for Opera San Jose’s resident principal artist roster. She made her professional debut there in the role of Anne Trulove in The Rake’s Progress. Shortly after, she sang the roles of Juliette in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette as well as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. She also sang the role of Hanna Glawari in Die Lusitge Witwe. In 1999, she returned as a resident artist to sing the roles of Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia to which audiences roared with laughter at her comedic skills. She finished her residency at Opera San Jose with the roles of Micaela in Carmen and Violetta in La Traviata. Ms. Major participated in the young artist programs at The Santa Fe Opera as well as Des Moines Metro Opera. In 2002, she was a finalist in the Sarah Tucker Grant Awards. She was a national finalist in the Marguerite McCammon Vocal Competition in 2003 and 2004. In 2005 she was the vocal division winner in the University of North Texas Concerto Competitio as well as a winner in the Dallas Opera Guild Competition.
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