Clarity, depth, imagination, and vocal beauty mark the performances of soprano Tony Arnold, who is internationally recognized for her interpretation of the contemporary repertoire. In 2001 she became the first vocalist ever to win the prestigious Gaudeamus International Interpreters Competition, and later that year took top honors at the McMahon International Music Competition. Since those triumphs she has been widely sought as both a concert and recording artist.
Ms. Arnold has received critical acclaim for both her vocal artistry and barrier-breaking performance style. "Blessed with an impressive range and a voice as smooth as cognac, Arnold can handle leaps and challenging harmonic progressions with ease... Arnold seems to embrace whatever she sings she can make a listener love a work, just because she does," (Buffalo
News). "Tony Arnold was spellbinding, whether reciting the text in an urgent, ghostly whisper or sending forth the deliberate, wide-ranging vocal line with laser-like clarity," (Chicago Sun-Times). "Tony Arnold was the soloist, technically sensational. Her intonation and emotional commitment to this extremely wide-stepping music were stunning, creating in the huge leaping or falling intervals a sense of spontaneity not often captured in such lurching atonal scores," (American Record Guide).
From Aperghis to Zuidam, Tony Arnold's work has focused on the most innovative composers of our time, including György Ligeti, Thomas Adés, György Kurtág, George Crumb, Bernard Rands, Elliott Carter, Vache Sharafyan, and Oliver Knussen. Her wide repertoire includes masterworks of Olivier Messiaen and Arnold Schoenberg. She is also deeply committed to the creation of new vocal music, working closely with both established and emerging composers including those at the University at Buffalo, where she joined the faculty in 2003.
Ms. Arnold's highly anticipated debut recordings were issued in 2003. They include Elliott Carter's Of Challenge and of Love with Jacob Greenberg at the piano, and Milton Babbitt's Quatrains (both on Bridge Records). 2004 saw releases of George Crumb's Madrigals (Bridge), and Luciano Berio's Sequenza III (Naxos).
Ms. Arnold has appeared with leading new music ensembles across the nation, including eighth blackbird, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, New York New Music Ensemble, The Furious Band, Chicago Symphony Orchestra's MusicNOW, Fulcrum Point, Contemporary Chamber Players, Pocket Opera Players, International Contemporary Ensemble, Cincinnati Symphony Chamber Players, and the Slee Sinfonietta at June in Buffalo. Collaborative artists have included pianists Jacob Greenberg, Diana Schmück and Robert Spano, and violinist Movses Pogossian.
Tony Arnold's early musical training included piano, woodwind, and composition studies at the Peabody Preparatory Institute and the Maryland Center for the Arts. She received a bachelors degree in voice from Oberlin College in 1990, and a masters degree in orchestral conducting from Northwestern University in 1993. Her diverse musical background includes several music directorships at the collegiate level. She has received fellowships to the Aspen Music Festival, both as a conductor and a vocalist.
Other performances have included Bernard Rands' Canti Lunatici with the Chicago Chamber Musicians; Jonathan Harvey's Song Offerings with the Lucerne Festival Academy; Brian Ferneyhough's Etudes Transcendantales with Ensemble 21; a solo recital for the Institute of Culture of Michoacán, Mexico; and an eight-city tour for the celebration of George Crumb's 75th birthday, culminating in a performance at the Library of Congress.
Artist's Website: screecher.com/