Janice Hall

JANICE HALL   -BIO

A highly regarded artist in Europe and the U.S, Janice Hall’s distinguished career in opera and on the concert stage has included performances in numerous important theatres and opera houses around the world. Now back in New York after living for many years in Germany, Janice is applying her talents to the art of cabaret. She was one of five finalists in this year's Metrostar Talent Challenge at the Metropolitan Room; writing about that contest, Beatrice Williams-Rude of Broadway After Dark remarked, "[A]ll the performers are sterling, some glitteringly; but one is pure, unalloyed gold: Janice Hall. She's sleek, chic and elegant in appearance as well as in the presentation of her songs."

Janice Hall's international opera career has taken her to the Vienna State Opera; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; the Salzburg Festival, and the Komische Oper Berlin. In the U.S., she has appeared with, among others, the Lyric Opera of Chicago; the Washington Opera at the Kennedy Center; the San Diego Opera, and the Houston Grand Opera. Her numerous appearances at the Santa Fe Opera Festival include leading roles in The Barber of Seville, La Calisto, The Beggar's Opera, and La Traviata. She performed as Violetta in the New York City Opera’s Emmy-winning telecast of La Traviata, directed by legendary soprano Renata Scotto, in the "Live from Lincoln Center" series on PBS. Her operatic repertoire has included roles as diverse as Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen, and Richard Strauss's Salome.

 

Her recent appearances include the operatic version of Tony Kushner's play, Angels in America, with the BBC Symphony in London, Street Scene at the Kurt Weill Festival in Dessau, Germany, and the world premiere of Jorge Martin's Before Night Falls, with the Fort Worth Opera. A CD recording of the Martin opera has just been released.

In November, 2010, Janice unveiled her first New York solo cabaret show, Grand Illusions:The Music of Marlene Dietrich, at the Metropolitan Room. Peter Haas of Cabaret Scenes magazine wrote: “Many performers have “done” Marlene Dietrich, but none has offered her songs more richly, more movingly and with lovelier singing than a newcomer to cabaret, petite and elegant Janice Hall.”  Reviewer for Opera News magazine William V. Madison, who has observed Janice in both her opera and cabaret incarnations, commented:  Cabaret Janice is mellow, cool. She spins out the songs in a clear, vibrato-less alto; only her seamless range and her canny legato suggest that she’s ever been near an opera house. She’s already mastered tricks — jazzy rhythms, singing on consonants, masterful use of the microphone — that other sopranos never learn. Likewise, Janice possesses the wit (and diction) to put over comic numbers with ease.” Grand Illusions was  presented at Urban Stages in Feb-Mar 2011, as part of their “Musical Legends” series. She is a winner of  a 2011 Bistro Award for her performance in
"  Grand Illusions."