Joyce DiDonato

Joyce DiDonato (born February 13, 1969) is an American operatic lyric-coloratura mezzo-soprano notable for her interpretations of the works of Handel, Mozart, and Rossini. She has performed with many of the world's leading opera companies and orchestras and in 2012 won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo.

Early life and education

Joyce DiDonato was born Joyce Flaherty in Prairie Village, Kansas in 1969, the sixth of seven children in a close-knit Irish-American family. She sang in choir and musicals in high school.

DiDonato entered Wichita State University ("WSU") in the autumn of 1988 where she studied vocal music education. She was initially more interested in teaching high school vocal music and musical theatre and did not become interested in opera until she saw a PBS televised broadcast of Don Giovanni and then, in her junior year, when she was cast in a school production of Die Fledermaus.

After graduating from WSU in spring 1992, DiDonato decided to pursue graduate studies in vocal performance at the Academy of Vocal Arts. Following her studies in Philadelphia, she was accepted in The Santa Fe Opera's Apprentice Singer program for the summer 1995 festival season. While there she appeared in several minor roles and understudied for larger parts in such operas as Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Richard Strauss' Salome, Kálmán's Gräfin Mariza and the 1994 world premiere of David Lang's Modern Painters. DiDonato was honored as one of several Outstanding Apprentice Artists by The Santa Fe Opera that year.