Celena Shafer

Praised for her silvery voice, fearlessly committed acting and phenomenal technique, soprano Celena Shafer is recognized as one of the leading artists of her generation garnering great acclaim for her operatic, orchestral, and recital performances.
 
In recent highlights, Ms. Shafer has sung the title role in Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol with the Atlanta Symphony, led by Robert Spano in Atlanta, at the University of Georgia and at Carnegie Hall; Richard Strauss’ Brentano Lieder with the Vancouver Symphony and Sir Andrew Davis; Haydn’s The Creation for the Utah Symphony & Opera led by Jeffrey Kahane; the Mozart Requiem with the Detroit Symphony and Hans Graf; a return to the Philadelphia Orchestra for Handel’s Messiah with Paul Goodwin; and Carmina Burana with Orchestra Iowa. Ms. Shafer returns to the Santa Fe Opera in the summer of 2010 as Miss Wordsworth in Britten’s Albert Herring led by Sir Andrew Davis.
 
She has also sung Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortileges with Lorin Maazel and the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, The Creation with the Phoenix Symphony and Michael Christie, and Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Pittsburgh Symphony led by Manfred Honeck and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic with Joel Levine. She sang critically acclaimed performances of Norina in the Utah Symphony & Opera’s production of Don Pasquale.
 
Ms. Shafer, a Utah native, performs regularly with the Utah Symphony & Opera, making her debut as Adele in Die Fledermaus in 2002. Other company appearances include Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lisette in La Rondine and in orchestral works such as the Bach Magnificat and Wedding cantatas, the Brahms Requiem, Dvořák’s Te Deum, the Poulenc Gloria, and the Vivaldi Gloria.
 
Other orchestral highlights include Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Coronation Mass and the Brahms Requiem with the New York Philharmonic, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and the Brahms Requiem with the Chicago Symphony; the Mozart Requiem with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s; Handel’s Messiah with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Seattle Symphony; Carmina Burana with the San Francisco Symphony; Beethoven’s Fidelio with the Saint Louis Symphony; and Bernstein’s Symphony No. 3 “Kaddish”, the Brahms Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Phoenix Symphony.
 
She has worked with many of the world’s leading conductors including Christoph von Dohnanyi, Alan Gilbert, Bernard Labadie, Nicholas McGegan, Kent Nagano, Donald Runnicles and Michael Tilson Thomas.
 
Operatic highlights include Johanna in a new production of Sweeney Todd for her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut, Aithra in Die Aegyptische Helena with the American Symphony Orchestra which was recorded and released on Telarc, Zerbinetta in a concert performance of Ariadne auf Naxos with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Holland at the Concertgebouw, Nanetta in Falstaff with Los Angeles Opera, Gilda in a new production of Rigoletto with the Welsh National Opera, and Ismene in Mitridate, Hero in Beatrice and Benedict, and Giunia in Lucio Silla with the Santa Fe Opera.