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Seattle native Cristina Villareale has performed all over the northwest with organizations such as Seattle Opera, ACT Theatre, Skagit Opera and Village Theatre. Cristina began her career in musicals and plays. She was introduced to opera as a teenager, making her Seattle Opera debut as the young Gretel in Massenet’s Werther. She went on to graduate from the University of Washington’s Schools of Music and Drama and studied with the Daniel Ferro Vocal Program in Chianti, Italy. She has performed operas with the Astoria Music Festival (Pamina in The Magic Flute), Skagit Opera (Célie in Signor Deluso), and the University of Washington (Laetitia in The Old Maid and the Thief & La Chatte in L'enfant et les sortileges). In the past few years, Cristina has found a niche for herself in operetta. She made her Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society debut in 2005 as the title character in their critically acclaimed production of Patience (see reviews below, and returned in 2006 as Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, singing to packed houses and rave reviews. She performed in the G&S' inaugural production of their Hans Wolf Memorial Operetta Series as Valencienne in The Merry Widow. In addition, Cristina is scheduled to play Adele in Bellevue Opera's production of Die Fledermaus in April, 2007 and Josephine in HMS Pinafore with Skagit Opera in October, 2007. Other operetta and musical theatre credits include Offenbach’s Christopher Columbus (Fleurette), West Side Story (Maria), Fiddler on the Roof (Chava) and the world premier of Scott Warrender’s HappyPants! (Melody Hillshire). In a departure from her usual musical activities, Cristina took on the title role in Oscar Wilde’s play Salome in March 2006. The role took advantage of her considerable training as an actress and dancer. Cristina has been a regular performer in the Seattle Opera Guild’s preview series and a recipient of their Singer Training Grant for the past two years. Preview roles include Giulio Cesare (Cleopatra), Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Antonia), Florencia en el Amazonas (Rosalba), Rigoletto (Gilda), Mourning Becomes Electra (Lavinia Manon & Helen Niles) and The End of the Affair (Sarah Miles). Equally at home on the concert stage, Cristina has appeared as a soloist with the Northwest Symphony at Benaroya Hall (Brahm’s Requiem, Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem). She is also a regular soloist with the Seattle Early Music Guild’s Continuo Ensemble, and the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Seattle, where she recently performed Pergolesi's Stabat Mater. Cristina is a past student of the Accademia d’Amore baroque opera workshop, sponsored by the Seattle Early Music Guild and lead by internationally renowned baroque guitarist Stephen Stubbs. Cristina’s competition credits include the Ladies Musical Club Solo Competition (winner 2006), the Sun Valley Opera Competition (2nd Place 2005), the Belle Voci Competition at Eugene Opera (5th place 2005), and Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (regional finalist 2004 and 2005). Cristina currently resides in Seattle, WA. She can be seen regularly as the Prima Donna at Fremont’s Ponte Vecchio Italian Bistro. “The several admirable singing voices here belong to women. Chief among them is Villareale, whose bright soprano complements her fetching earthiness. She solos with distinction on "I cannot tell what this love may be" and the sole serious ballad, "Love is a plaintive song." -Misha Berson, Seattle Times “…Cristina Villareale, who literally blew me away with her flawless performance. Ms. Villareale IS Patience. There's no higher compliment I could pay her. Her voice is beautiful, her "north end" accent perfect, her stage presence nothing short of commanding.” -Lon Wall, savoynet
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