Curtis alumna Amanda Majeski (Opera ’09) is the cover story of the January 2023 issue of Opera News. Acclaimed for her voice of “silvery beauty” (Musical America) and praised as “exquisite” by the Guardian, the renowned lyric soprano made a splash on the international scene in 2015 when she stepped in at the last minute to portray the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro in her debut at the Metropolitan Opera. Since that moment, her star has continued to rise, even amid pandemic postponements and cancellations. Still, the past seasons have seen Ms. Majeski embody new, challenging roles beyond the Mozart heroines she has become celebrated for, including Strauss’s Salome, Marta in The Passenger, Wagner’s Gutrune in Götterdämmerung, Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová, and Strauss’s Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier.
During the height of the pandemic, Ms. Majeski witnessed one contracted engagement after another removed from her busy performance schedule. While this was undeniably disheartening, unique opportunities arose, like her performances of Britten’s War Requiem with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Tanglewood Festival Chorus and virtual performances in hospitals with the Chicago-based organization, Sharing Notes. Reflecting on the day-to-day life of being an artist in these tumultuous times, as the world returns to some semblance of normalcy, she says,
“The pandemic reminded me not to take anything for granted. Any opportunity to make music for others becomes much more special and much more sacred.”
Ms. Majeski now splits her time between Wisconsin and Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she was appointed to the voice faculty of the University of Michigan in the fall of 2022. Read more about her personal and artistic journey HERE at Opera News.
Photo Credits: 1.) Amanda Majeski at the Black Water Marsh Boardwalk in Kohler-Andrae State Park; Dario Acosta. 2.) The January 2023 cover of Opera News; Dario Acosta. 3.) Ms. Majeski at the Art Preserve of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center; Dario Acosta.
Praised by The Washington Post as “a consummate artist…with flawless technique” and The Columbus Dispatch as “…a first rate showman…his double-stops, harmonics, and beautiful sound kept the audience spellbound,” the Buffalo, N.Y. native gave his first performances at age 6. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Aaron Rosand, Mr. Wetherbee attended the school from 1982—88. He made his debut with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under Symon Bychkov and went on to perform with the National Symphony under Mstislav Rostropovitch—as well as the Kyoto Symphony and Japan Philharmonic, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Bogotá, the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Mexico, the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra and the National Repertory Orchestra, among many others. In 1988, he toured Asia, giving performances in Seoul, Korea, as part of the 1988 Olympic Arts Festival.
In 2002, Mr. Wetherbee gave the Latin American premiere of Corigliano’s Red Violin in Mexico City, and returned in 2003 for performances of the Szymanowski Violin Concerto. In November 2005, Charles commissioned and gave the world premiere of the Violin Concerto by composer Jonathan Leshnoff. He also performed the Leshnoff concerto in Mexico City, Mexico; Kyoto, Japan; Exmadura, Spain; Buffalo, N.Y., Duluth, Minn.; Breckenridge, Colo.; and Bocca Raton, Fla. In 2012, Charles performed the world premiere of the violin concerto by Korine Fujiwara in the National Gallery, Washington, DC, as part of the 100th Anniversary of the Cherry Blossom Festival. He played one of the world’s great violins, the AR 44.
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