Janice Chandler-Eteme
has long been among America’s
foremost lyric sopranos, singing an astonishing range of literature with the world’s top orchestras and conductors.
This season she makes her European operatic debut as Bess in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess at the Opera de Lyon, following
a Dallas Opera debut as Clara in the same opera. In March 2008 she returned to Carnegie Hall for the Brahms Requiem
with the Orchestra of St. Luke's.
In 2008-2009 the
soprano sings Mahler #2 with Gilbert Kaplan and the Cincinnati Symphony and Jeffrey Kahane and the Colorado Symphony; Haydn's
Die Schoepfung with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony and David Loebel and the Memphis Symphony; Lokumbe's
Dear Mrs. Parks with the Detroit Symphony (also a Naxos recording), the Brahms Requiem with Jahja Ling and
the San Diego Symphony; Mahler's Eighth Symphony with Andreas Delfs and the Milwaukee Symphony; and Beethoven
#9 with the Alabama Symphony.
Ms. Chandler-Eteme has sung Strauss’ Four Last Songs with Yuri Temirkanov
and the Baltimore Symphony, Daniel Hege and the Syracuse Symphony, Stefan Sanderling and the Florida Orchestra and with Peter
Oundjian at the Grand Teton Music Festival and forged memorable collaborations with James Conlon and the Cincinnati Symphony
and Gabriel Levine and the Pittsburgh Symphony (Haydn’s Die Schöpfung), and Andrew Litton and the Dallas
Symphony (Tippett’s A Child of Our Time). Mahler’s Second Symphony
figured prominently in her 2006-2007 season, the soprano performing this work with Mto. Temirkanov and Rome’s Santa
Cecilia Orchestra, the Nashville Symphony under Leonard Slatkin (inaugurating the brand-new concert hall and telecast nationally
on P.B.S.) and for her Pacific Symphony debut with Carl St. Clair on the podium. This same season included
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Neeme Järvi and the New Jersey Symphony, Hans Graf and the Houston Symphony
and Uri Segal at the Chautauqua Festival; she also sang Porgy and Bess with the Choral Arts Society of Washington
at the Kennedy Center; and a French tour with the Orchestre National de la Pays de la Loire, performing Villa-Lobos’
Bachianas Brasileiras, No. 5 to unanimous acclaim.
Ms. Chandler-Eteme
first gained international prominence as among the great Robert Shaw's soloists of choice. Other distinguished
conductors with whom she collaborates include Marin Alsop, Christoph von Dohnányi, Charles Dutoit, Jo Ann Falletta,
Claus Peter Flor, Neal Gittleman, Raymond Harvey, Carlos Kalmar, Yakov Kreizberg, Raymond Leppard, Christof Perick, Esa-Pekka
Salonen, Alfred Savia, Robert Spano, Vladimir Spivakov, Edo de Waart and Hugh Wolff; appearing with the Los Angeles and Saint
Paul Chamber Orchestras; Boston, NHK (Japan), Montreal, Vancouver, Phoenix, Kansas City and Santa Rosa Symphonies; Los Angeles,
Hong Kong and Rochester Philharmonics; and Philadelphia Orchestra, among many others. Festival invitations
include Bard, Grant Park, Aspen, Chautauqua, Prague Autumn and Blossom.
Ms. Chandler-Eteme’s
recordings include an inspirational solo disc (Devotions), the DvoÍák Te Deum with Zdenek Macal and the New Jersey Symphony and a forthcoming world-premiere
recording of Maslanka’s Mass. She holds a B.A. in vocal performance from Oakwood College
and a M.M. in vocal performance from Indiana University. She has studied with Virginia Zeani, Margaret Harshaw and Todd Duncan.
