Description
Consistently hailed as elegant and refined, Christie Conover’s rich, warm sound is complimented by a personal grace both on and off the stage. She fuses a dynamic voice with expressivity and dramatic sincerity, cultivating a unique, versatile talent. Described by the San Francisco Classical Voice as having a “well-focused instrument with a lovely timbre, perfect trill, and soaring top,” audiences and critics alike agree: Christie Conover is a standout.
For her second concert appearance at the St. Mane in Lanesboro, Christie will be celebrating women of the American frontier with “Women of the West.” History comes alive as Christie performs music inspired by the women who put the ‘wild’ in the Wild West: gunslinger and star of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show Annie Oakley; notorious outlaw Belle Starr; scandalous beauty Baby Doe Tabor; and frontierswoman, marksman, and lavish drinker Calamity Jane. In a show designed much like the house concerts of the time, Christie spans the musical repertoire from opera to musical theatre to art song – even yodeling.
This original concept concert consists of traditional favorites from shows, including Oklahoma and Annie Get Your Gun, as well as western-themed arias and art songs by American composers including Libby Larsen, Douglas Moore, and Henry Mollincone. The music is woven together with a charming narrative in which Christie recounts the stories of these women and how they are connected to the concert’s music as well as to her own life. No stranger to the frontier herself, Christie is also a girl of the Golden West; she currently resides in Colorado, with roots in Billings, Montana. “The inspiration for the creation of the program was at the urging of a dear friend (who happens to have furniture once owned by Baby Doe),” Christie says, “who told me as a western girl, I should be singing about my home. I had the opportunity to create a thematic program for a competition, and after that conversation this seemed like a natural choice.”
This concert and a post-concert reception are generously supported by Mark and Romi Wilhelm through the Rudolf E. Wilhelm Fund of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan.
The 2015-2016 season marked the soprano’s international debut with the Komische Oper Berlin (China tour) as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, a reprisal of her performance in the same production that garnered her critical acclaim at Minnesota Opera in 2015 and 2014. Additional engagements for the season included a guest artist performance with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 (Villa-Lobos) with the Colorado Music Festival, soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Billings Symphony, appearances in two chamber operas with the Grand Junction Symphony, and numerous performances of “Women of the West”, representing the National Federation of Music Clubs as a winner of their 2015 Young Artist competition. She finishes the season with a world premiere performance of scenes from The Origin by Bruce Adolphe, a guest appearance with the Marina del Rey Symphony as part of their popular Summer Concert Series, and a guest recital at the Chautauqua Institution.
A recent finalist of the Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition, Ms. Conover has placed consistently in competitions, including the Grand Junction Symphony Young Artist Competition (2014 First Place Winner), the Irene Dalis Competition (2013 Second Place Winner and Audience Choice), The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (2011 Rocky Mountain Region Third Place Winner and 2012 Finalist), and the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition (2010 First Place Winner). Her training includes the Minnesota Opera Resident Artist program (2012-14), the Aspen Music Festival Opera Theatre program (2011), and the Opera Colorado Young Artist program (2010-11).
Ms. Conover was proud to represent her home state of Montana as a contestant in the 2007 Miss America Pageant and traveled extensively speaking to students on a platform close to her heart: “Music Makes the Difference.”