Noted for her "rich and mellifluous” voice (Opera News) and "striking" presence (The Arts Fuse), mezzo-soprano Christina English enjoys a versatile career that encompasses many genres. Recent performances include a recital of art song with pianist Christina Wright-Ivanova; world premieres of chamber music for string quartet and mezzo with WordSong and Sheffield Chamber Players; the role of Jack's Mother in Into the Woods with NEMPAC Opera Project; Holst’s The Planets at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Lorelei Ensemble; and the premiere of Julia Wolfe’s Her Story with Lorelei Ensemble and the Boston, Chicago, Nashville, National and San Francisco Symphonies.
In 2020—21, Christina enjoyed outdoor performances with NEMPAC’s Opera on the Balcony series, at the Arsenal Yards Petals to the Metal floral installation, and on a program of music for voice and viola with Sheffield Chamber Players. In addition, she performed in Lorelei’s streaming holiday video, Wondrous Love, as well as recording James Kallembach’s Antigone and Scott Ordway’s North Woods for upcoming release by Lorelei. The year was to have included several exciting engagements, including the premieres of Julia Wolfe's Her Story, written for Lorelei Ensemble and the Nashville Symphony, Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra & National Symphony Orchestra (rescheduled for 2022—23); ensemble appearances with Boston Baroque; and a solo performance in Newburyport Choral Society's Elijah. Christina’s 2019-20 schedule included the alto solos in Hudson Valley Philharmonic's Messiah (re-broadcast in December 2020 to over 8,000 viewers), and nationwide performances of Lorelei Ensemble’s touring program, Without Walls, featuring the world premiere of Jessica Meyer's I long and seek after (winner of the 2019 Chorus America Dale Warland Commissioning Award), alongside works by Pérotin, Sungji Hong, David Lang, and Jonathan Woody.
Selected stage roles include the Pilot in NEMPAC Opera Project’s production of Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince; Fastrada in Pippin with Music on Norway Pond; the Housekeeper in New Repertory Theater’s Man of La Mancha; and Miss Prism in Odyssey Opera’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Concert appearances include premieres with composer and sound artist Beau Kenyon and Boston University faculty member John Wallace; Britten and Bolcom’s Cabaret Songs with Boston Art Song Society; solo oratorio works with Rhode Island Philharmonic & Providence Singers, Newburyport Choral Society, Cambridge Community Chorus, Resonance Works, and Choral Art Society; and regular appearances with the acclaimed Boston Baroque chorus.
In past seasons, Christina has performed with Beth Morrison Projects, St. Petersburg Opera (FL), Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Odyssey Opera, Guerilla Opera, Boston Midsummer Opera, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Intermezzo Opera, Opera on Tap Boston, and Handel & Haydn Society Outreach and has collaborated with Arneis String Quartet, Alea III, Boston New Music Initiative, and Mimesis Ensemble. Christina appears as a soloist and ensemble member on albums with Odyssey Opera (The Importance of Being Earnest); Boston Modern Orchestra Project (Four Saints in Three Acts; Kati Agócs: The Debrecen Passion); Monadnock Festival Orchestra (Our Town); and Lorelei Ensemble (Live Know Love; Reconstructed; Impermanence; love fail).
Christina is an original core member of Lorelei Ensemble. Recent highlights with the group include the role of the nursing sister in Puccini’s Suor Angelica with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, collaborations with GRAMMY-nominated ensembles Cantus and A Far Cry, and appearances at The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music.
In addition to performing, Christina is Executive Director of Sheffield Chamber Players, an ensemble founded in 2014 on the belief that chamber music is a powerful tool for connecting with one another and ourselves. By performing diverse chamber music repertoire in the intimate settings for which it was written, Sheffield profoundly changes the way listeners gather together, respond to the music, and connect over a shared artistic experience.Christina belongs to Beyond Artists, a coalition of artists that donates a percentage of their concert fees to organizations they care about. She supports the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and the Environmental Defense Fund through her performances.
