Christine Brewer

Christine Brewer (born October 26, 1955) is an American soprano. She grew up in the Mississippi River town of Grand Tower, Illinois. She attended McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois and concentrated on music education. She was a music teacher for several years before embarking on a professional music performing career. She was recently named among BBC's Top 20 Sopranos of the 20th Century.

Brewer began her career in St. Louis, Missouri with the Saint Louis Symphony Chorus. She auditioned in 1981 for the chorus of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL),^[1] in the start of her career in opera. Her first OTSL work was in the chorus of "The Beggars Opera" in 1982. Her first major role with OTSL was as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes in 1990.

In 1989, she participated in a masterclass with Birgit Nilsson, and was one of the 10 winners of the National Council auditions sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera. Whilst her daughter Elisabeth was in school during the academic year, Brewer deliberately limited her work in staged opera productions.^[1] She returned more actively to the opera stage after her daughter's high school graduation. She began to accept roles including a debut in the title role of Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos at the Metropolitan Opera in 2003, which has become a signature role for Brewer.

Brewer is most famous for her interpretations of roles by Wagner, Strauss and Britten including Isolde, Ariadne, Färberin (Die Frau ohne Schatten), Ellen Orford (Peter Grimes)^[2] and Queen Elizabeth I (Gloriana).^[3] She made her debut at the San Francisco Opera in 2006 singing the title role in Beethoven's Fidelio and returned the following season singing the role of Isolde in Tristan und Isolde.

Brewer is a regular featured singer at The Proms and the Wigmore Hall.^[4]

Brewer and her husband Ross, a retired social studies teacher, live in Lebanon, Illinois. They have a daughter, Elisabeth, who works as a social worker in the Chicago area. Brewer continues to work with young students in the sixth grade classroom at Marissa, Illinois where she had formerly taught music, in an outreach program in conjunction with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

In late March 2009, Brewer had to withdraw from the complete Ring Cycle at the Metropolitan Opera in order to undergo knee surgery to repair injuries she suffered a few months before when she slipped on ice on her driveway.

Recordings

Brewer has made a number of recordings, which include:

• Two contributions to Hyperion’s Schubert series with pianist Graham Johnson^[5]
• One CD in Hyperion's Richard Strauss series with pianist Roger Vignoles
• Two recital recordings produced and released by OTSL: (a) "Saint Louis Woman”, (b) “Music for a While” with pianist Kirt Pavitt
• Mahler's Eighth Symphony with Sir Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (EMI)
• Mozart's Don Giovanni with Sir Charles Mackerras and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Telarc)
• Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs/Wagner's "Liebestod" from Tristan und Isolde
• Mozart’s Requiem with Donald Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (Telarc)
• Fidelio (in German) with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO Live)
• Barber’s Vanessa (Chandos) with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Slatkin
• William Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and Experience (Naxos), conducted by Leonard Slatkin
• Fidelio (in English) and “Great Operatic Arias” (Chandos) with the London Philharmonic and David Parry;
• Tristan und Isolde with Donald Runnicles and the BBC Symphony Orchestra (Warner Classics);
• Britten’s War Requiem with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Kurt Masur (LPO Live).

Brewer was honored at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Choral Performance and Best Classical Album for her work on Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and Experience.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Vivien Schweitzer (2004-08-16). "I Remind Myself That Nothing is as Hard as Teaching a School Choir". Financial Times. http://vivienschweitzer.com/profiles/brewerblurb.html. Retrieved 2008-08-16. 
2. ^ Bernard Holland (2005-07-30). "Gentle Desert Breeze for Troubled Fisherman". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/30/arts/music/30grim.html. Retrieved 2008-08-16. 
3. ^ Anthony Tommasini (2005-06-20). "Long Live a Beleaguered Tribute to Britannia". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/20/arts/music/20oper.html. Retrieved 2008-08-16. 
4. ^ Tim Ashley (2008-05-09). "Wagner/Wolf/Britten/Carter: Songs, Brewer/Vignoles (Wigmore Hall Live)". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/may/09/classicalmusicandopera5. Retrieved 2008-08-16. 
5. ^ Andrew Clements (2005-08-28). "Schubert: The Complete Songs, 60 soloists/Johnson". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2005/oct/28/classicalmusicandopera.shopping3. Retrieved 2008-08-16. 

External links

• Official artist homepage
• Askonas Holt agency page
• IMG Artists agency page
• Askonas Holt page, "Making Music Happen"

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Name	Brewer, Christine
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Date of birth	1955-10-26
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