Currently a 2007-2008 Fulbright Scholar to Spain, mezzo-soprano Anna Tonna has been seen in such roles as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Illinois, Round Top Music Festival and New Jersey State Opera, as Romeo in Capuletti e I Montecchi also with the Round Top Music Festival under the baton of Karel Mark Chichon, in the title role of Piazzolla's tango opera Maria de Buenos Aires with the Connecticut Grand Opera, as Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana, Dorothea in Verdi's Stiffelio, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro and Musetta in Leoncavallo’s La Boheme with New York Grand Opera under the baton of Vincent La Selva, and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with the Teatro Nacional de Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic under the direction of Carlos Piantini.

Ms. Tonna has been awarded numerous prizes by both foundations and competitions, including the Liederkranz Foundation, Gerda Lissner Foundation, Marjorie Lawrence International competition, Teatro Grattacielo Competition, National Opera Association and Violetta Dupont/Opera at Florham.

Suzuki and Prince Orlovsky photo by Jennifer Corbett.

Ms. Tonna’s portrayal of Ernestina in the U.S. Premiere of Rossini’s L’Equivoco Stravagante was reported by The Rossini Gesselschaft “Like many a Rossini comic opera, its success depends to a large part on that charm of the mezzo heroine, a heroine who knows also how to sing Rossini.   This the Bronx Opera had in Anna Tonna …Ms. Tonna, handled the difficult fioriture with ease. Just as important, she carried off the opera’s “bizarre deception” with aplomb (feigning male status, a castrato and military deserter at that!)”. Of this same portrayal, Peter G. Davis of the New York magazine reported, “Anna Tonna effectively stole the show as Ernestina, offering a prototype of the classic quick-witted Rossini heroine with a heart of gold as well as showing off her warm, secure mezzo-soprano to maximum advantage.”

Her critiques as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia are equally outsanding with Opera Illinois, the Peoria Times-Observer reporting that, “…Anna Tonna as Rosina displayed brilliant coloratura in the upper register and a clear, darkly beautiful lower register in her opening aria”. The Illinois Journal Star called her portrayal of Rosina “outstanding.”

She made her Lincoln Center debut in Mascagni's Guglielmo Ratcliff with Teatro Grattacielo in 2004 Alice Tully Hall under the baton of Alfredo Silipigni. In November of 2006 with the same company, she sang in the US premiere of Zandonai’s La farsa amorosa, of which Opera News wrote that her singing “was firmly-projected, oaken mezzo sound that made one wish Zandonai had written more for her character”; of the same performance, the New York Times wrote she “brought a penetrating sound to her alert portrayal of Donna Mercedes”.

Anna Tonna combines a distinguished career as an operatic mezzo with a dedication to the music of Latin American and Spanish composers – a natural consequence of her Dominican parentage and her affinity for Hispanic culture and language. Her performances of zarzuela (Hispanic operetta) have included Roig’s Cecilia Valdés at New York’s Town Hall, Moreno Torroba’s Luisa Fernanda, and the tango opera “María de Buenos Aires” with the Connecticut Grand Opera’s, which inspired the Stamford Advocate to report, “Luisa was Anna Tonna, an experienced zarzuela singer whose penetrating mezzo clearly defined her character,” and “Mezzo Tonna was sultry and fiery as Maria.” She has also been a passionate advocate of Hispanic Art Song, performing a wide repertoire of music from the Caribbean, South America, México and Spain. Her appearances have included Gala performances for the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors honoring film stars Antonio Banderas, Alfred Molina and “Harry Potter III” director Alfonso Cuarón, Los Amigos de la Zarzuela, Song Salon, Musica de Camara and concerts this past summer at the Interpretación de la Canción Española festival in Granada, Spain.

As a Fulbright Scholar to Spain for 2007-2008, her project is the investigation and study of songs composed by the Spanish composer Julio Gomez at La Fundacion Juan March in Madrid. Her studies are directed by the distinguished pianists Miguel Zanetti, Jorge Robaina and mezzo-soprano Nan-Maro Babakhanian.