Mezzo Soprano
Bio
“But it was in the Bizet arias where Newman really shone. In addition to a beautiful, velvety voice, she has an enormous breadth of vocal colours as well as an agile technique which allowed her to move with ease from dark brooding passages to bright, sprightly moods as the music demanded.”
Timothy McGee, Peterborough Examiner
"Marion Newman (Noodin-Kwe) came to the project with an already formidable reputation. She has a gorgeous voice, lustrous and burnished in sound, which she can bend at will, whether as a soft lullaby for her child or a singing declamation against injustice."
Paula Citron, Opera Canada
First Nations mezzo-soprano Marion Newman "has a distinctive, dusky voice that suggests drama with every note" (Toronto Star) and has been noted as "a show stealer" (BBC Music Magazine). In her debut with Cork’s Opera 2005 in the title role of Carmen, she was widely praised for her “superbly sinuous sexuality” and as “a very exciting new talent” by the Irish Examiner. She returned to Cork to appear as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and has appeared as Margret in Wozzeck and Juno in The Tempest with Pacific Opera Victoria.
On the concert stage, Marion has performed with the Victoria Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Kingston Symphony, Symphony Nova Scotia, Elora Festival Singers, Talisker Players, and Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.
Recently,Marion sang Cherubino and Cenerentola with Ottawa’s Opera Lyra , debuted in Vivaldi’s Dixit Dominus with the National Ballet of Canada in a new production by Sabrina Matthews, and was Hansel in Opera Hamilton’s touring production of Hansel and Gretel.
Highlights of the 2009/10 season for this accomplished artist include de Falla’s El Amor Brujo with Toronto Philharmonia, Messiah with Symphony Nova Scotia, (conducted by Kevin Mallon), Mozart’s Mass in C with London Fanshawe Chorus and in April 2010, the world premiere of Spy Denomme-Welch/Catherine Magowan’s opera for Native Earth Performing Arts, “Giiwedin”. Marion joined Toronto’s Aradia Ensemble for “Thunderbird” at the Glenn Gould Studio in May.
Returning to her hometown last season, Marion played the vain stepsister Tisbe in Pacific Opera Victoria's La Cenerentola. In Montreal, she sang Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle with Choeur St.-Laurent, followed by Messiah with Aradia Ensemble, Orillia's Cellar Singers and Kingston Symphony. With Peterborough Symphony, Marion was a guest soloist in El Amor Brujo and Carmen arias, and with Toronto's Opera in Concert she starred in Dvorak's comic opera The Devil and Kate.
Marion looks forward to “The Emily Carr Project” and Messiah with Victoria Symphony in 2011.
For audio and video clips, please visit www.marionnewman.com