The San Francisco Chronicle praised Romanian-American soprano Esther Tonea for her “powerful, gleaming tone, effortless precision and expressive immediacy” in her rendition of Imogene’s mad scene from Bellini’s Il pirata, where she displayed the “sublime assurance of an established diva.” Ms. Tonea is a 2022 winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, 2024 Finalist in the Elizabeth Connell Prize at Wigmore Hall, 2024 Giulio Gari Grant Award Winner, a Presser Scholar, and recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant. She is a recent graduate of San Francisco Opera’s Adler Program. This season sings her first performances of Iolanta with Russian Chamber Arts Society and Juliette in Roméo et Juliette with Bel Cantanti Opera, both in Washington, D. C. She also joins City Choir Washington for Haydn’s Creation, joins the Santa Rosa Symphony for Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and the world premiere of Warum hast du gelitten? by Jonathan Leshnoff, and returns to Richmond Symphony and Richmond Ballet for performances of Carmina Burana. Last season, she joined Atlanta Opera for Jake Heggie’s Another Sunrise, and returned to Richmond Symphony and Richmond Ballet for performances of Carmina Burana. She also recently joined Wolf Trap Opera as a Filene Artist for the title role of Semele.
Because of her passion for increasing accessibility to classical music and opera, Tonea appears as guest artist in elementary school outreach programs across the United States. She has also curated recitals in more intimate casual venues, namely in-home salons and outdoor festivals. This season she works with pianist Andrew King and the Shoshana Foundation in a free public recital and continues a series of recitals centered around various topics such as her Romanian heritage and increased awareness of domestic violence. Continuing her work in higher education, she served as resident artist at Tennessee Wesleyan University where she gave a recital, taught lessons, and held a masterclass for undergraduate students. She also performs in collaboration with pianist Ronny Michael Greenberg and Roots of Peace, an organization based in Napa Valley whose mission it is to replace land mines with vineyards in war-torn countries such as Ukraine and Croatia.
She holds a Master of Music in Voice from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees in Vocal Performance and Cello Performance from the University of Georgia.
Esther Tonea’s Website
Photo Credit: Victor Xie
Management Territory: Worldwide
