April Joy Guiterrez, Soprano

American soprano April Joy Guiterrez' performance of Violetta in La Traviata with New York City Opera's National Company prompted the following review: "Gutierrez rescued the performance with her nimble, milky soprano and her caresses of sound in the soft high notes ...theatrically enterprising and vocally radiant– she revealed a rich, distinctive timbre." (New York Newsday)

Ms. Gutierrez has sung many of the most demanding roles in the lyric repertoire, including such notable heroines as Lucia in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata, Mimi in Puccini's La Boheme, Konstanze in Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio, Gilda in Rigoletto, Micaela in Carmen, and Lauretta in Gianni Schiccht with companies in the US and abroad. These companies include New York City Opera, Dayton Opera, New Jersey Opera Festival, Opera Colorado, Caramoor Festival, Gold Coast Opera and 1 Cantori of New York.

In addition to her operatic engagements, Ms. Gutierrez is equally at home on the concert stage. Her repertoire includes such work as the Verdi Requiem, Britten War Requiem, Brahms Requiem, Mozart Requiem, Poulenc Gloria, and Handel's Messiah. She has appeared in these works with orchestras such as the American Symphony, Denver Symphony, Greeley Philharmonic, Schenectady Symphony and the Utica Symphony. She performed the world premiere of Bruckner's Psalms with the American Symphony Orchestra in Avery Fisher Hall.

A graduate of the Juilliard School of Music and the University of Northern Colorado, April-Joy Gutierrez is the recipient of many distinguished awards. She is the winner of a Sullivan Foundation Career Grant, The Liederkranz Foundation Competition, and the Jenny Lind Competition. As a winner in the New York Regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions she was named Outstanding Mozart Singer.