Agnes Vojtko
Whether in opera or on
the concert stage, Hungarian mezzo-soprano Agnes Vojtko has established herself
as a versatile and genuine artist. She completed a bachelor degree in music at
the prestigious Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest. Later, she moved to the United
States as a Fulbright fellow to attend the Butler School of Music of the
University of Texas at Austin, where she obtained the degree of Doctor in
Musical Arts. Her vocal flexibility and magnetic dramatic presence are,
therefore, infused with the best from the Austro-Hungarian tradition and her
American music training.
In 2006, Vojtko made her
opera debut to critical acclaim with Opera in the Heights’s production of Norma
as Adalgisa. The Houston press called her performance “a revelation”. Either “pouring
out Adalgisa’s legato remorse or scaling the heights in ‘Mira, O Norma’...
she’s a force to be reckoned with.” She has also appeared in Austin Lyric
Opera’s Madame Butterfly as Ms. Pinkerton, and in several productions of
the Sarah and Ernest Butler Opera Center, which include Menotti’s The Medium
(as Mrs. Nolan), Puccini’s Suor Angelica (as La Badessa), the American
Premiere of Luis Jaime Cortez’s La Tentación de San Antonio (as Helena),
Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (as Olga), and Peter Brook’s La Tragédie
de Carmen (as Carmen), for which she was nominated for an Austin Critics
Table Award. It is because of her “rich voice” (The Austin Chronicle)
that Vojtko delves into these roles with natural ease and grace. Meanwhile, her
scholarly approach to earlier repertoire shows the span of her vocal
versatility. She has sung with the Ars Classica Chamber Opera as Fidalma in
Cimarosa’s The Secret Marriage, as Second Lady in Mozart’s The Magic
Flute, as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, as Zerlina in Don
Giovanni, as well as Proserpina in L’Orfeo with the Budapest Chamber
Opera, and as Nerone in L’incoronazione di Poppea with the Sarah and
Ernest Butler Opera Center. Recent highlights of her solo concert activity also
include Mahler’s Songs of the Wayfarer, Donald Crockett’s The
Cinnamon Peeler, and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor.
Vojtko’s talent and
trajectory has earned her recognition at some of the most prestigious vocal
competitions, including the Nyiregyhazi International Music Competition in
Takasaki, Japan; the S. Mercadante International Singing Competition in Italy,
the International Händel Competition in Hungary, the Händel Singing Competition
in England, the Dallas Opera Guild, and the W. Stenhammar International Vocal
Competition in Sweden. Because of her accomplished performance at this last
event Vojtko was invited to sing at the gala concert of the Cairo Opera, where
the press praised her as “tall, slender, and beautiful, with a captivating
mezzo timbre.”
Elizabeth
Loparits
Elizabeth Loparits serves
as lecturer and collaborative pianist at UNCW, and coach/accompanist for Opera
Wilmington. She has performed solo and collaborative recitals in Hungary, Costa
Rica and the United States, and spent two summers as a Young Artist
coach/accompanist with Opera North in New Hampshire. Top prizes include the
Kodály-Bartók Chamber Music Competition and the National Bartók Piano
Competition of Hungary, and the North Carolina Symphony/UNCG concerto competition.
Loparits holds degrees from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Pécs, Hungary
(BM); Illinois State University (MM); and the University of North Carolina
Greensboro (DMA). Recent guest appearances include UNCW’s Lumina Festival, New
Music Festival, Piano Masterworks Series and Rush Hour Concerts, the UNCG Guest
Recital Series, and the Ronald Sachs International Music Competition.