Emily Marvosh

American contralto Emily Marvosh has been gaining recognition for her “plum-wine voice,” and “graceful allure,” on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, Disney Hall, Lincoln Center, Prague’s Smetana Hall, and Vienna’s Stefansdom. Following her solo debut at Boston’s Symphony Hall in 2011, she has been a frequent soloist with the Handel and Haydn Society under the direction of Harry Christophers. Other recent solo appearances include the American Bach Soloists, Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, and John Davenant’s Macbeth with the Henry Purcell Society of Boston. Upcoming engagements for the 2022-2023 season include performances with the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Rochester Philharmonic, Tucson Symphony, and Knoxville Symphony.

In past seasons, Ms. Marvosh performed twice as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC as well as the Rochester Philharmonic. Other Handel’s Messiah appearances of Marvosh’s are with the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, the Calvin Oratorio Society, and with the Charlotte Symphony. Marvosh has additionally performed Mozart’s Requiem with the Eugene Symphony and the Phoenix Symphony and Elgar’s Sea Pictures with the Orchestra of Indian Hill and the Brookline Symphony. Other Soloist appearances include Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with Boston’s Cantata Singers, Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion with the Colorado Bach Ensemble, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Music Worcester, Vivaldi’s Nisi Dominus with L’academie, Bach’s Magnificat with Back Bay Chorale, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater with the Chorus of Westerly, Vivaldi’s Salve Regina with the White Mountain Bach Festival, La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein with Opera Boston, and Rusalka with Boston Lyric Opera. Past ensemble appearances include the Oregon Bach Festival under the direction of Helmut Rilling, the Bachakademie Stuttgart, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Tucson Chamber Artists, Boston Camerata, the Skylark Chamber Ensemble, the Yale Choral Artists, and Cambridge Concentus.

A regular member of the renowned vocal ensemble, Seraphic Fire, Miss Marvosh can be heard on their recent GRAMMY-nominated recording of Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem. Personal awards include the prestigious Adams Fellowship at the Carmel Bach Festival, the American Prize in the Oratorio and Art Song divisions, and second place in the New England Regional NATSAA competition. She is also the inaugural Resident Artist with the Lexington Symphony in Massachusetts.

Her contributions to 21st century repertoire and performance include world premiere performances with The Thirteen, Juventas New Music, Shoreline Music Society, the Manchester Summer Chamber Music Festival, and the Hugo Kauder Society. She is a member of the Lorelei Ensemble, which promotes innovative new music for women. With Lorelei, she has enjoyed collaborations with composers David Lang and Julia Wolfe, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, A Far Cry, Duke Performances, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

A frequent recitalist and proud native of Michigan, Emily Marvosh created a chamber recital celebrating the history and culture of her home state, which won a St. Botolph Club Foundation Emerging Artist Award.

She belongs to Beyond Artists, a coalition of artists that donates a percentage of their concert fees to organizations they care about. She supports Rosie’s Place and the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music through her performances. She holds degrees from Central Michigan University and Boston University. www.emilymarvosh.com

September 27, 2022: ‘Scott Ordway: The Outer Edge of Youth’ Album is Released with Emily Marvosh and Matthew Robertson
- Spotify

November 16, 2021: Emily Marvosh Invited to Close Encounters With Music Festival’s 30th Anniversary
- The Berkshire Eagle

February 16, 2016: Emily Marvosh Performs on Grammy-Winning Recording ‘Prayers and Remembrances’ by Stephen Paulus
- Reference Recordings

2012: Emily Marvosh Performs on Grammy-Nominated Recording, ‘Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requim, Op. 45’
- Emily Marvosh

APOLLO’S FIRE AND VOCALISTS FIND GRACE AND GLORY IN BACH’S MASS IN B MINOR
"Emily Marvosh brought a marvelously open and affecting contralto to the ‘Qui sedes ad dextram Patris’ duet with Deborah Nagy’s gently insistent oboe d’amore."
- Mark Sebastian Jordan, Seen and Heard International

APOLLO’S FIRE PRESENTS TRANSCENDENT BACH WITH THE MASS IN B MINOR
“Emily Marvosh’s rich, layered contralto was adorned beautifully by Debra Nagy’s eloquent oboe d’amore playing in the “Qui sedes ad dextram Patris,” and Marvosh brought a palpable sense of spiritual resolve to the penultimate “Agnus Dei.”
- Tim Sawyier, Chicago Classical Review

A ‘MISSA SOLEMNIS’ FROM THE HEART WITH CANTATA SINGERS
“Throughout…contralto Emily Marvosh caught the eye with her rapt smile and the ear with her plum-wine voice…It was a performance from the heart, and if the audience’s response was any indication, Beethoven’s directive of “may it return” was fulfilled.”
– Zoe Madonna, The Boston Globe

CANTATA SINGERS OUTSTANDING IN MISSA SOLEMNIS
“The soloists of the vocal quartet presented a fine ensemble of well-tuned voices: Dana Varga’s light and clear soprano matched the flexibility and clarity of Emily Marvosh’s contralto throughout her extensive range….Altogether, we heard an outstanding performance of a complex and difficult work that we don’t hear nearly often enough.”
– Virginia Newes, The Boston Musical Intelligencer

GETTING A HEAD START ON LEIPZIG WEEK
The first duet, “Sunday Morning”, featured Petrus’s and Marvosh’s admirably matched timbres as well as carefully worked out rubati and subtle dynamics from all three musicians as they portrayed the intimacy of individual prayer against the vast expanse of creation.
– Geoffrey Wieting, The Boston Musical Intelligencer

FROM ANNUNCIATION TO NATIVITY
“The master, Johann Sebastian was featured in two cantatas, beginning with Cantata 147, “Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben” with five superb soloists… [incuding] Emily Marvosh, contralto…. Brian Giebler, Emily Marvosh, and Peter Walker each made distinguished contributions.”
– Susan Miron, The Boston Musical Intelligencer

FERRIER AND WALTER MOVINGLY EVOKED
“Contralto Emily Marvosh and the superb pianist Tanya Blaich rewarded last night’s packed Goethe-Institut Boston with an extraordinarily moving homage to the beloved British contralto Kathleen Ferrier (1912-1953) and eminent pianist/conductor Bruno Walter 1876-1962).”
– Susan Miron, The Boston Musical Intelligencer

MESSIAH IN TEMPORE BELLI
“‘But Who May Abide’ glowed with awestruck veneration, and not just because of the anticipation generated by the compelling side story of how a singer with heart was plucked from the chorus like Ruby Keeler in 42nd Street. For her solo debut with H+H, sultry contralto Emily Marvosh emerged more like Lena Horne in Stormy Weather. In singing of her Refiner’s fire, she kindled her own, especially in the repeated verse which melded ornament and consolation most fittingly.”
– Lee Eiseman, The Boston Musical Intelligencer

SYMPHONY HALL BASKS IN CHRISTMAS SPIRIT WITH HANDEL’S MESSIAH
“In ‘Oh God that tellest good tidings to Zion,’ contralto Emily Marvosh performed with poise and grace. Her judicious use of ornamentation on the words ‘Behold your God’ was a beautiful enhancement to the music.”
– Mary McCleary, New Boston Post

HANDEL AND HAYDN’S ‘MESSIAH’ IS ON MESSAGE
“Alto Emily Marvosh gave an unearthly calm to ‘But who may abide the day of his coming?’ and was beautifully plainspoken in ‘He was despised and rejected of men.’”
– Jeffrey Gantz, Boston Globe – Related Link

Orchestral Repertoire

Bach
Cantatas (Selected)
Christmas Oratorio ‘Weihnachts Oratorium’, BWV 248
Easter Oratorio Oster ‘Oratorium’, BWV 249
Magnificat in D Major, BWV 243 Mass in B minor, BWV 232
St. John Passion ‘Johannes Passion’, BWV 245
St. Matthew Passion ‘Matthäus Passion’, BWV 244

Barber
Dover Beach

Beethoven
Missa Solemnis
Symphony No. 9

Duruflé
Requiem

Dvořák
Stabat Mater

Elgar
Dream of Gerontius
Sea Pictures

Handel
Dixit Dominus, HWV 232
Israel in Egypt, HWV 54
The Resurrection ‘La Resurezzione’, HWV 47
Soloman, 67
Messiah, HWV 56

Haydn
The Creation ‘Die Schöpfung’
Lord Nelson Mass

Mahler
Kindertotenlieder
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 3

Mendelssohn
Elijah

Mozart
Coronation Mass
Mass in C Minor
Requiem

Pergolesi
Stabat Mater

Ravel
Scheherazade

Rossini
Petite Messe Solenelle

Stravinsky
Les Noces

Vivaldi
Gloria
Nisi Dominus
Salve Regina

***

Opera Repertoire

Adams
Nixon in China (Third Secretary)

Britten
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hermia)

Dvořak
Rusalka Third (Woodsprite)

Handel
Giulio Cesare (Cornelia)

Mozart
Die Zauberflöte (Third Lady)

Rossini
L'Italiana in Algieri (Isabella)

Vivaldi
Juditha Triumphans (Juditha)

Wagner
Götterdämmerung (Erda), (First Norn)

*Updated June 2022