The Scene
People
Corrine Byrne
Hailed for her “beautiful vocal timbre” (Classical Singer Magazine Competition) , “infectious enthusiasm” (Westchester Oratorio Society), and versatility, New York-based soprano Corrine Byrne has quickly become a sought-after soprano and interpreter of repertoire from the Medieval to the Baroque era, and music by today’s most daring contemporary composers. Byrne’s most recent roles include Anna I in Die Todsünden by Kurt Weill at the Staller Center for the Arts and the Renee Weiler Recital Hall, Lady Madeline in The Fall of The House of Usher by Felix Jarrar at Marlboro College and The DiMenna Center, Doctor in the workshop previews of The Scarlet Professor by Eric Sawyer, Cathy in The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown at the Staller Center for the Arts and the National Opera Center, the cover for the title role in the North American premiere of Handel’s Almira with Boston Early Music Festival, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel with Stony Brook Opera, and Anima in Hildegard von Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum with Ensemble Musica Humana. In August of 2014 Byrne was one of 40 soloists in a rare performance of Luciano Berio’s major work “Coro” under Berlin Philharmonic conductor Sir Simon Rattle with the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra in Lucerne, Switzerland. She has also appeared with the REBEL Baroque Ensemble, One World Symphony, Manhattan School of Music Symphony Orchestra, Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Session Symphony, Westchester Oratorio Society, the UMass Bach Festival and Symposium, New Music Miami, Amherst Symphony, and the Carnegie Hall Chamber Chorus with the Tallis Scholars as part of Carnegie Hall’s Before Bach series. Byrne also sang with the Lorelei Ensemble for their 2015-2016 season where the group premiered a new arrangement of love fail by David Lang at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and also gave a performance at the Trinity Wall Street Twelfth Night Series where Byrne was featured as a soloist in Perotin’s “Beata Viscera” which the New York Times praised as “warm, lithe and beautifully blended.”
Corrine is a core and founding member of Ensemble Musica Humana, which has presented concerts across the U.S and Canada, has recorded two full albums, has appeared in the BEMF Fringe Festival and SoHip concert series, founded the Pioneer Valley Early Music Day, and has appeared on the BBC adaptation of “Poldark.” Byrne is also a core member of Tempus Continuum, a group that has received a Jerome New Music Fund award and has been presented by the Arts in the Village Series alongside the Manhattan String Quartet and the Boston Trio. Corrine also sings with the Schola Cantorum at the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer in Manhattan. Byrne has collaborated with and performed world premieres of works by composers Scott Wollschleger, Paula Matthuson, Reiko Futing, Anne Goldberg, Alex Burtzos, Kevin Baldwin, William McKinley, Reiko Yamada, Carson Cooman, Eric Sawyer, Alex Weiser, and Felix Jarrar and world premiere arrangements by David Lang and Sung Jin Hong. She also has worked one on one with composer/director of Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival Marc Neikrug on his Pueblo Songs which culminated in a performance featured in NewMusicBox. A song written for Byrne’s voice entitled “Walking past a window” from the cycle Songs of the Soul Beams by Felix Jarrar and Brittany Goodwin was awarded 2nd place in the songSLAM competition in NYC. Corrine has been presented in solo performances at Manhattan venues such as The Metropolitan Room, Triad Theater, Trinity Wall Street, Somethin’ Jazz Club, HERE Theater, Station 171, Culturefix, Spectrum, University Settlement, Cornelia Street Cafe, the cell theater, Brooklyn’s Firehouse Space, and Gracie Mansion where she performed as a soloist with West Side 5 for Mayor Bloomberg and all of the New York City Council.
Byrne appeared on a professional career development panel alongside Kent Tritle at Manhattan School of Music, and has given masterclasses at Wagner College, Florida International University, and North Carolina Governor’s School West. Byrne was a finalist for the 2012 Career Bridges Grant Awards, a National Online Round winner in the 2013 Classical Singer Magazine Competition, a finalist in the Handel Aria Competition as part of the 2015 Madison Early Music Festival, and a semi-finalist in the 2016 New York Oratorio Society Solo Competition. This spring, Byrne will make her BAM debut singing the world premiere of “Songs of the Soul Beams” by Felix Jarrar. She holds a B.M from UMass Amherst where she studied with Janna Baty and Amy Johnson, an M.M from Manhattan School of Music where she studied with Mark Oswald, and she recently received her D.M.A from Stony Brook University where she studied on scholarship with Randall Scarlata and is currently serving on the faculty as Assistant Professor of Voice at Susquehanna University.