{{Short description|Canadian opera mezzo-soprano}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox person |name = Wallis Giunta |image = Wallis Giunta - 2012.jpg |caption = |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1985|12|29|df=yes}} |birth_place = Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |occupation = Opera singer (mezzo-soprano), actress |years_active = 2010–present |website = {{URL|http://wallisgiunta.com/}} }}
'''Wallis Giunta''' (born 1985) is an Irish-Canadian<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rodriguez|first1=Adrian|title=Wallis Giunta: Singing Outside the Box|url=https://myscena.org/adrian-rodriguez/wallis-giunta-singing-outside-box-2/|access-date=30 August 2020|agency=La Scena Musicale|date= 5 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Jameson|first1=Julietta|title=Wallis Giunta: What travel has taught me|url=https://www.traveller.com.au/wallis-giunta-what-travel-has-taught-me-h1jzib|access-date=30 August 2020|agency=Traveller|date= 3 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Seymour|first1=Claire|title=A brilliant celebration of Bernstein & co. from Wallis Giunta at Cadogan Hall|url=http://www.operatoday.com/content/2018/08/a_brilliant_cel.php|access-date=30 August 2020|agency=Opera Today|date= 27 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.intermusica.com/artist/Wallis-Giunta|title = Intermusica| date=28 September 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deanartists.com/wallis-giunta|title = Dean Artists Management| date=28 September 2025}}</ref> mezzo-soprano opera singer performing at leading theatres and opera companies around the world.
==Early life and education== Giunta was born in Ottawa to Colleen Wrighte and Michael Giunta. She has a brother, Macallan, and a sister, Marley.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hill|first1=Valerie|title=Mezzo Soprano sure to dazzle at Saturday's Messiah performance|url=http://www.therecord.com/whatson-story/2592439-mezzo-soprano-sure-to-dazzle-at-saturday-s-messiah-performance/|access-date=9 October 2015|work=Waterloo Region Record|date= 9 December 2011}}</ref> Giunta sang in the Ottawa Central Children's Choir from age 9 to 15,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Eades|first1=Erica|title=Star Power: A Q&A with Mezzo Soprano Wallis Giunta|url=http://www.ottawamagazine.com/culture/2013/02/21/mezzo-soprano-wallis-giunta-chats/|website=Ottawa Magazine|access-date=9 October 2015|date=12 February 2013}}</ref> and began voice training with Charlotte Stewart in Ottawa at age 13. She attended Lisgar Collegiate Institute, and graduated from Glebe Collegiate Institute high school. At 17, she began her post-secondary studies in voice at The University of Ottawa, completing two years. She then transferred to The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto in her junior year, receiving her Performance Diploma (Voice) at age 21 and her Artist Diploma (Voice) at age 23.<ref>{{cite web|title=Glenn Gould School Alumni|url=https://learning.rcmusic.ca/glenn-gould-school/alumni|website=The Royal Conservatory}}</ref> While a student, she achieved first place in the Royal Conservatory Orchestra Concerto Competition.<ref>{{cite web|title=All Participants|url=http://www.neue-stimmen.de/en/history/all-participants/participants-a-to-z/details/261/|publisher=Neue Stimmen|access-date=9 October 2015|date=2009}}</ref> She attended training programs at the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Ravinia Festival, the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie,<ref>{{cite web|title=Media: 2012|url=https://meistersingerakademie.com/Media|website=Internationale Meistersinger Akademie|access-date=9 October 2015|date=2012}}</ref> the Georg Solti Accademia and the Banff Centre. She graduated from the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio in 2011,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=MacMillan|first1=Rick|title=Wallis Giunta|journal=Opera Canada|date=2011|volume= 52|issue=1|page=10|url=https://www.questia.com/magazine/1G1-255519097/wallis-giunta|access-date=9 October 2015}}</ref> and both the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and The Juilliard School Artist Diploma in Opera Studies in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|title=Alumni News|url=http://www.juilliard.edu/alumni/news/qa/archive/2011-12/201109|website=Juilliard School|access-date=9 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mazzaro|first1=Maria|title=Sound Bites: Wallis Giunta|journal=Opera News|date=September 2015|volume=80|issue=3|pages=14–15|url=http://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2015/9/Departments/Sound_Bites_%E2%80%94%C2%A0Wallis_Giunta.html|access-date=9 October 2015}}</ref> She has studied extensively with both Jean MacPhail in Toronto, and Edith Wiens in New York.<ref>[http://finalnotemagazine.com/articles/wallis-giunta/ "Serendipity: Wallis Giunta"], interview by Emer Nestor, ''Final Note Magazine'', August 2015</ref>
==Career== In spring 2010, before completing her studies, Giunta made her professional debut as Cherubino in ''Le nozze di Figaro'' with Opera Atelier and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in Toronto. She spent summer 2010 at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, where she was invited to audition for the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, which she joined in September 2011. Earlier in 2011, she had made her American operatic debut as Pribaoutki in the acclaimed Robert Lepage production of Stravinsky's ''The Nightingale & Other Short Fables'', on tour with the Canadian Opera Company. That season, she also performed Zweite Dame in the Canadian Opera Company main stage production of Mozart's ''Die Zauberflöte'', directed by Diane Paulus, and made her debut at Opera Lyra Ottawa as Lola in Mascagni's ''Cavalleria rusticana''.<ref name=Bio /> In 2012, she performed in two Metropolitan Opera Young Artist productions, as Phénice in Gluck's ''Armide'', and as Dorabella in Stephen Wadsworth's staging of ''Così fan tutte''. She also debuted at the Fort Worth Opera as Cherubino.<ref name=Bio />
In 2013 she returned to the Canadian Opera Company singing both Sesto and Annio in Mozart's ''La clemenza di Tito'', directed by Christopher Alden. This was followed by her Metropolitan Opera main stage debut as Contessa Ceprano in Verdi's ''Rigoletto'', and her debut at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, singing the role of Tiffany in ''I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky'', by John Adams. She also made her Asian debut later that year, with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, reprising the role of Annio.<ref name=Bio />
In 2014, she returned to the Canadian Opera Company, reprising the role of Dorabella, in a new production by director Atom Egoyan. She also created the Canadian premiere of Louis Andriessen's one-woman opera, ''Anaïs Nin'', for the 21C Festival in Toronto, and returned to Opera Atelier as Bradamante in Handel's ''Alcina''.
In early 2015, Giunta returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Olga in a new production of Lehár's ''The Merry Widow'', broadcast worldwide for their Live in HD series. That was followed by a return to Opera Lyra Ottawa as Cherubino, and a debut at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, reprising her role in ''I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky''. In the fall of 2015, she became a member of the ensemble at Oper Leipzig in Germany. In November 2015, she made her German operatic debut at Oper Leipzig in the role of Cherubino, in a new production of ''Le nozze di Figaro''. That was followed at Oper Leipzig by her role debut as Siébel in Gounod's Faust, and her first Wagnerian role as Rossweise in ''Die Walküre''.
In March 2016 she made another role debut at Oper Leipzig as Angelina in ''La Cenerentola''. She debuted in April 2016 at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, followed by a debut with the Hamburger Symphoniker in May 2016, and her role debut as Mercédès in ''Carmen'' for Oper Frankfurt's new Barry Kosky staging in July 2016. In the fall of 2016, she debuted a new role at Opera Atelier, Dido in Purcell's ''Dido and Aeneas'', and debuted in concert with the Munich Radio Orchestra and Symphony Nova Scotia.<ref name=Bio />
In 2017, she starred in three productions for Opera North, singing the title roles in ''La Cenerentola'' and ''L'enfant et les sortilèges'', as well as Dinah in Bernstein's ''Trouble in Tahiti'', again to critical acclaim.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/feb/19/cinderella-review-opera-north|title=Cinderella review – effervescent Rossini for a Strictly Dancing era|first=Alfred|last=Hickling|date=19 February 2017|work=The Guardian}}</ref> She was recognized for her work in 2017 with awards from the International Opera Awards, WhatsOnStage Opera Awards and The Arts Desk.
Giunta made her London debut at Cadogan Hall in the BBC Proms on 27 August 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/efxj6q|title = Proms at ... Cadogan Hall 7: Bernstein on Broadway and Beyond}}</ref> She also made her first appearance on BBC Television as a guest on BBC Proms "Extra", live at Royal Albert Hall in August, 2018. She gave her first TEDx Talk, on embracing artistic versatility, in May 2018. She also received critical acclaim for her role as Dinah in the film version of ''Trouble in Tahiti'', released in July 2018 by Opera North and ''The Guardian''. She went on to debut the role of Rosina in Rossini's ''Il barbiere di Siviglia'', and the title roles in Bizet's ''Carmen'' and Strauss's ''Der Rosenkavalier'', all for Oper Leipzig.
In 2019 Giunta debuted as Dodo in ''Breaking the Waves'' by Missy Mazzoli at the Edinburgh International Festival,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eif.co.uk/whats-on/2019/breakingwaves|title = Breaking the Waves| date=21 August 2019 }}</ref> debuted the role of Idamante in Mozart's ''Idomeneo'' for Opera Atelier, debuted at The Grange Festival as Cherubino, at the Sydney Opera House in a solo concert, and at the Royal Swedish Opera and Seattle Opera as the title role in Rossini's ''La Cenerentola''. In 2020, before COVID-19 pandemic-related cancellations, Giunta also debuted at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein as Bradamante in Handel's ''Alcina'', and reprised the role of Dodo in ''Breaking the Waves'' for the Adelaide Festival.
==Operatic roles== {{BLP primary sources|section|date=January 2020}} Giunta's repertoire includes:<ref>{{cite web|last1=Giunta|first1=Wallis|title=Repertoire|url=http://wallisgiunta.com/site/repertoire/|website=wallisgiunta.com|access-date=9 October 2015}}</ref> {{Div col|colwidth=30em|rules=yes}} * Tiffany, ''I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky'' (Adams) * Nancy T'ang, ''Nixon in China'' (Adams) * Anaïs, ''Anaïs Nin'' (Andriessen) * Sally, ''A Hand of Bridge'' (Barber) * Gymnasiast, ''Lulu'' (Berg) * Paquette, ''Candide'' (Bernstein) * Dinah, ''Trouble in Tahiti'' (Bernstein) * Carmen, ''Carmen'' (Bizet) * Hermia, ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (Britten) * Nancy, ''Albert Herring'' (Britten) * English Lady, ''Death in Venice'' (Britten) * Pandora, ''Pandora's Locker'' (Burry) @ * Wu, ''Kommilitonen!'' (Davies) @@ * Elisabeth/Natalya, ''Die Letzte Verschwörung'' (Eggert) @ * Phenice, ''Armide'' (Gluck) * Siebel, ''Faust'' (Gounod) * Olga, ''The Merry Widow'' (Lehár) * Bradamante, ''Alcina'' (Handel) * Ernesto, ''Il mondo della luna'' (Haydn) * Hänsel, ''Hänsel und Gretel'' (Humperdinck) * Lola, ''Cavalleria rusticana'' (Mascagni) * Dodo, ''Breaking the Waves'' (Missy Mazzoli) @@@ * Annio/Sesto, ''La clemenza di Tito'' (Mozart) * Cherubino, ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (Mozart) * Dorabella, ''Così fan tutte'' (Mozart) * Idamante, ''Idomeneo'' (Mozart) * The Second Lady, ''The Magic Flute'' (Mozart) * Muse/Niklausse, ''Les Contes d'Hoffmann'' (Offenbach) * Öffentliche Meinung, ''Orpheus in der Unterwelt'' (Offenbach) * Maria, ''Maria de Buenos Aires'' (Piazzolla) * Dido, ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Purcell) * L'Enfant, ''L'enfant et les sortilèges'' (Ravel) * Il Fuso, ''La Bella Dormente nel Bosco'' (Respighi) * Rosina, ''The Barber of Seville'' (Rossini) * Angelina (Cenerentola), ''La Cenerentola'' (Rossini) * Clarina, ''La cambiale di matrimonio'' (Rossini) * The King's Mistress, ''The Children's Crusade'' (Schafer) @ * Orlofsky, ''Die Fledermaus'' (J. Strauss) * Octavian, ''Der Rosenkavalier'' (R. Strauss) * Pribaoutki, ''The Nightingale & Other Short Fables'' (Stravinsky) * Contessa Ceprano, ''Rigoletto'' (Verdi) * Roßweiße, ''Die Walküre'' (Wagner) * Blumenmädchen, ''Parsifal'' (Wagner) * Wellgunde, ''Das Rheingold'' (Wagner) * Lilian Holiday, ''Happy End'' (Weill) * Anna I, ''Die Sieben Todsünden'' (Weill) {{Div col end}} @ World première {{bullet}} @@ North America première {{bullet}} @@@ European première
==Recognition and awards== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Association !! Category !! Work !! Result !! class="unsortable" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |- | 2016 | Canada Council for the Arts | Bernard Diamant Prize | | {{won}} | |- | rowspan="2" |2017 | Whatsonstage.com Opera Awards | Breakthrough Artist in UK Opera | | {{won}} | |- | Dora Mavor Moore Awards | Outstanding Performance – Ensemble (Opera) | ''Dido and Aeneas'' | {{nom}} | |- | 2018 | International Opera Awards | Young Singer of the Year | | {{won}} | |- | 2025 | International Opera Awards<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://operaawards.org/archive/2025/|title = Opera Awards 2025| date=28 September 2025}}</ref> | Readers' Award | | {{nom}} | |}
* 2010: Encouragement Award winner at the George London Competition * 2010: Winner of New Discoveries Competition<ref>{{cite web|title=New Discoveries Competition|url=http://www.ottawachoralsociety.com/OCS-New-Discoveries-Laureates|website=Ottawa Choral Society|access-date=9 October 2015}}</ref> * 2012: Winner of the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award<ref>{{cite web|title=Award Recipients|url=http://www.sylvagelber.ca/recipients/|website=Sylva Gelber Music Foundation|access-date=9 October 2015}}</ref> * 2013: Named one of the Top 30 Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30, by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rowat|first1=Robert|title=30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30 2013|url=http://music.cbc.ca/#!/blogs/2013/8/30-hot-Canadian-classical-musicians-under-30|website=CBC Music|access-date=10 October 2015}}</ref> * 2013: Received the Juilliard School Novick Career Advancement Grant<ref name=Bio>{{cite web|title=Biography|url=http://wallisgiunta.com/site/about/|website=wallisgiunta.com|access-date=9 October 2015}}</ref> * 2014: Named one of the Top 30 Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30, by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rowat|first1=Robert|title=30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30 2014|url=http://music.cbc.ca/#!/blogs/2014/8/30-hot-Canadian-classical-musicians-under-30-2014-edition|website=CBC Music|access-date=10 October 2015}}</ref> * 2015: Chosen to perform for the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards in Canada<ref>{{cite web|title=Gala Program|url=http://ggpaa.ca/GGPAA/MediaLibrary/GGPAA/Gala%20programs/2015/GGPAA-Gala-Program-2015.pdf|website=GGPAA|access-date=10 October 2015}}</ref> * 2015: Named one of the "Top 25 People in Canada's Capital", by Ottawa Life Magazine<ref>{{cite web|last1=Tenenhouse|first1=Kate|title=Top 25 People in the Capiltal 2015|url=http://www.ottawalife.com/2015/09/top-25-people-in-the-capital-2015/|website=Ottawa Life Magazine|access-date=10 October 2015}}</ref> * 2015: Named one of the Top 30 Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30, by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rowat|first1=Robert|title=30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30 2015|url=http://music.cbc.ca/#!/blogs/2015/8/30-hot-Canadian-classical-musicians-under-30-2015-edition|website=CBC Music|access-date=10 October 2015}}</ref> * 2017: Named "Young Singer of the Year" by The Arts Desk<ref>{{cite web|last1=Nice|first1=David|title=Best of 2017: Opera|url=http://www.theartsdesk.com/opera/best-2017-opera|website=The Arts Desk|date=26 December 2017|access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref>
==Recordings== * ''Dancing on a Volcano''; singing Anna I in Die Dieben Todsünden by Kurt Weill; recorded at the Kölner Philharmonie in January 2025 with Ensemble Modern & HK Gruber in Köln, Germany.<ref>{{cite web|title=Shop|url=https://www.ensemble-modern.com/en/shop/cds|website=Ensemble Modern|access-date=8 March 2026}}</ref> * ''The Seven Deadly Sins''; singing Anna I in the title work by Kurt Weill; recorded for BIS Records in August 2024 with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra & HK Gruber in Örebro, Sweden.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Weill|first1=Kurt|title=The Seven Deadly Sins|url=https://newreleases.discogs.com/eu/release/383213-swedish-chamber-orchestra-kurt-weill-the-seven-deadly-sins|website=Discogs|access-date=8 March 2026}}</ref> * ''Music for Great Films of the Silent Era''; music by William P. Perry; recorded for Naxos Records in June 2014 with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra & Paul Phillips (conductor) in Dublin, Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Perry|first1=William|title=Music for Great Films of the Silent Era|url=http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.573105|website=Naxos|access-date=9 October 2015}}</ref> * ''Richard Strauss: Lieder Op. 10, 15, 17''; recorded independently in July 2013, with pianist Carson Becke, in Quebec, Canada.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Becke|first1=Carson|title=CDs|url=http://www.carsonbecke.com/cds.php|website=Carson Becke, Pianist|access-date=9 October 2015}}</ref>
==Film== * ''The Seven Deadly Sins''; as Anna I, produced by Opera North and filmed by the BBC; premiered November 2020.<ref>{{cite news|title="The Seven Deadly Sins review"|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/nov/23/the-seven-deadly-sins-opera-north-review-hollywood-highs-and-depression-lows|website=The Guardian|date=23 November 2020 |access-date=8 March 2026}}</ref> * ''Trouble in Tahiti''; produced by Opera North and The Space, for the Leonard Bernstein centenary; premiered July 2018.<ref>{{cite news|title="''Trouble in Tahiti'': watch Bernstein's swinging one-act opera"|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jul/12/trouble-in-tahiti-video-watch-leonard-bernstein-opera-north|website=The Guardian|date=12 July 2018 |access-date=9 September 2018}}</ref> * ''Dans les pas de Cendrillon''; a documentary about the history of the Cinderella story, produced by Arte; premiered January 2017. * ''The Merry Widow'', by Franz Lehár, recorded for The Metropolitan Opera Live in HD series in January 2015; released on DVD and Blu-ray by Decca. * ''Une Saison a la Juilliard School''; a documentary series about students at the Juilliard School, produced by Arte; released on DVD in 2013. * "Opera Atelier: ''Don Giovanni''"; a mini documentary about Mozart's title character, Don Giovanni; produced by Bravo and 90th Parallel Productions in 2010.<ref>{{YouTube|M_4GJ6PaH9w|Opera Atelier: ''Don Giovanni''}} {{Retrieved|access-date=29 January 2017}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{Official website|http://wallisgiunta.com/}} * {{IMDb name|7025708|Wallis Giunta}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Opera}} {{Authority control|state=collapsed}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giunta, Wallis}} Category:Living people Category:Aspen Music Festival and School alumni Category:21st-century Canadian women opera singers Category:Canadian operatic mezzo-sopranos Category:Singers from Ottawa Category:Juilliard School alumni Category:1985 births