soprano

Soprano Margot Rood brings her luminous tone and superb musicality to repertoire ranging from baroque opera to American musical theatre to music of the 21st century.

Ms. Rood's appearances on the concert platform have delighted audiences and garnered critical acclaim from national journals. Ms. Rood's 2011-2012 season includes her debut with Boston Modern Orchestra Project performing as soloist in Kati Agocs' Vessel and as soprano evangelist in Pärt's Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem, her debut with Back Bay Chorale as soprano soloist in Bach's St. John Passion conducted by Scott Allen Jarrett, and an engagement as soloist in Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem with Concord Chorus, conducted by Michael McGaghie. In the spring of 2011, the soprano made her Carnegie Hall debut in the world premiere of Shawn Jaeger's Letters Made with Gold, as part of the Dawn Upshaw/Donnacha Dennehy Composing Song Workshop. Steve Smith of The New York Times praised her performance for its "luminosity and grace". In 2010, she made her Boston concert stage debut as the Jungfrau in Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri with Marsh Chapel Choir and Collegium at Boston University, followed by her Boston Symphony Hall debut as Soloist/Miriam in Handel's Israel in Egypt with the Handel and Haydn Society under the baton of Harry Christophers. "Margot Rood hushed the audience with her fresh, open tone and glowing, focused pitch," raved Harlow Robinson of The Boston Globe. Other recent solo appearances include: the world premiere in New York City of Quick Study, a song cycle for soprano, flute, percussion and piano by Matthew Ricketts and as soprano soloist in Handel's Dixit Dominus with Handel and Haydn Society.

Equally comfortable on the opera stage, Ms. Rood will make her company debut this season with Opera Boston, covering the role of Héro in Opera Boston's new production of Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict, conducted by Gil Rose. The soprano's 2010-2011 season featured a return to St. Petersburg Opera (FL) where she performed Fredrika Armfeldt in Sondheim's A Little Night Music and a return to Green Mountain Opera Festival to cover Frasquita in Bizet's Carmen and sing Despina in Mozart's Così fan tutte. Her 2009-2010 season saw Ms. Rood in two auspicious company and role debuts, first as Little Red Riding Hood in Sondheim's Into the Woods with St. Petersburg Opera, and then as Dorinda in Handel's Orlando with Green Mountain Opera Festival. Of her performance in Orlando, the Times Argus wrote, "Soprano Margot Rood gave Dorinda a natural innocence and sang with crystalline lyricism."

Ms. Rood received her Masters in Music from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, studying voice with renowned baritone Sanford Sylvan. With Opera McGill, Ms. Rood performed a diverse array of principal roles including: Emmie in Britten's Albert Herring, Oberto in Handel's Alcina, Aeglé in Lully's Thesée and Lucia in Britten's The Rape of Lucretia. While still a student at McGill, Ms. Rood fostered a relationship with the Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Center, with whom she sang the roles of Yum-Yum in Sullivan's The Mikado, Minnie Fay in Jerry Herman's Hello Dolly, Suor Genovieffa in Puccini's Suor Angelica and excerpts from the world premiere of Tony Solitro's Maya Awake over the course of the 2008 and 2009 summer seasons.

Margot Rood makes her home in Boston, Massachusetts, where she is currently a standing member of many prestigious ensembles including The Handel and Haydn Society (Mo. Harry Christophers), Lorelei Ensemble (Mo. Beth Willer) and Marsh Chapel Choir (Mo. Scott Allen Jarrett). She currently studies with Carole Haber, of New England Conservatory.

Performances

Jordan Hall at New England Conservatory | April 6, 2012

News and Press

[News Coverage] Minimalist Directness, Mystic Purity

A most uncommon acknowledgment of Good Friday recalling the crucifixion of Jesus Christ occurred at Jordan Hall. It involved the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, a slate of guest soloists, and the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum. Two reenactments of the passion, one allegorical, by David Lang and the other, from Biblical texts, by Arvo Pärt, adopted a similar, now familiar musical language of minimalism. Both passions were fittingly in minor modes commonly associated with all things sorrowful.

The Boston Musical Intelligencer Full review
[Concert Review] At BMOP, new works for a somber event

To mark Good Friday, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project brought together two contemporary Passion settings: David Lang's "The Little Match Girl Passion" and Arvo Pärt's "Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem."

It did not look much like a BMOP concert – only a few instrumentalists were present. But it was an appropriately grave lineup for the darkest day of the Christian calendar.

The Boston Globe Full review
[Concert Review] BMOP marks Good Friday with contrasted "Passions"

People who like the sound of straight-toned voices singing intricate counterpoint at close intervals had a feast at New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall on the evening of Good Friday, as the Boston Modern Orchestra Project presented works with "Passion" in the title by David Lang and Arvo Pärt.

Boston Classical Review Full review