Maren performed Lansing McLoskey’s One Book Called Ulysses, a tour de force written for mezzo and sinfonietta, with Ensemble Ibis in Miami on Saturday, October 5. This was the second performance of that work, which she premiered with Network for New Music in Philadelphia in 2022, on the centenary of the publication of Joyce’s novel. […]
Maren’s solo in Edie Hill’s Spectral Spirits was called out in this RARB.org review of The Crossing’s 2022 Grammy-nominated album, BORN. Read the full article here. “Soloists Maren Montalbano and Rebecca Myers blow me away…”Montalbano’s mezzo frames many of the choral pieces with short namings of the birds in question, a recitative that has its […]
Ms. Montalbano’s performance of Baltic and Nordic songs in Lyric Fest’s Songs from the Tundra was described as “winning” by the Broad Street Review. Maren Montalbano sang with warmth and expression that added luster to dramatic works like “Det syng” (The Song) by Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) and “Amidst Weeping,” a fervent nationalistic polemic by Ukrainian Vadym […]
Opera Today had many wonderful things to say about the premiere of Lembit Beecher’s new opera about Alzheimer’s disease, Sky on Swings. Ms. Montalbano was mentioned in her role as a part of a quartet of Elders, which sings throughout the piece. O18: Unsettling, Riveting Sky on Swings by James Sohre September 23, 2018 The quartet […]
The Review The Broad Street Review article was a review of The Crossing‘s second Month of Moderns 2018 concert, titled VOYAGES. Ms. Montalbano sang a solo in the world premiere of Benjamin C.S. Boyle’s Voyages (Cantata No. 2), which was commissioned for The Crossing. Setting sail with the Crossing choir by Gail Obenreder June 19, […]
The Review The Philadelphia Inquirer review was a comparison of how the different performance spaces (Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral vs. Merkin Concert Hall) affected how the works were heard. Ms. Montalbano is mentioned briefly (using her married name, Brehm) for the solo she sang in Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s response, “Ad Genua.” Philly group The Crossing wows at […]
Josquin des Prez’s Missa “Pange lingua” and David Lang’s The Little Match Girl Passion were a part of the February “Cantatas and Chamber Music” series at Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill. The Review The Chestnut Hill Local mentions Ms. Montalbano briefly. Ghoulish story of homeless child at Presbyterian Church by Michael Caruso February 25, 2016: […]
Ms. Montalbano performed in ANDY: A Popera, an exciting new cabaret/opera hybrid about Andy Warhol, in which she, along with 11 other Opera Philadelphia chorus members, play the role of Andy Warhol — or rather, his brand. Even though she is in the chorus, Broad Street Review singled her out for her performance: A Mishmash […]
Ms. Montalbano made her Perelman Hall debut this weekend as a guest artist of Tempesta di Mare. Together, they performed the modern world premiere of the Baroque zarzuela, Destinos vencen finezas (Destiny Trumps your Vows) by Juan Francisco de Navas. Here’s what the Philadelphia Inquirer had to say about her dramatic interpretation, especially playing different […]
This past weekend, Ms. Montalbano performed at the Eastern State Penitentiary with Piffaro, the Renaissance Band. The program consisted of mostly English ballads addressing themes of murder, thievery, unjust imprisonment, and penitence. The Philadelphia Inquirer lauded her vocal and dramatic flexibility: Renaissance Riot on Cellblock 9 by David Patrick Stearns, May 19, 2014: Gleefully perverse […]