Cherry Duke as Hansel with Nevada Opera
American mezzo-soprano Cherry Duke is a versatile singing actress. Hailed by the press as a “radiant and confident” performer, she “is a singer who communicates both the music and the text impeccably.” Her “striking voice-acting and stage movement” is especially evident in her performances of leading roles such as Carmen, Isabella in L’italiana in Algeri, Nerone in The Coronation of Poppea, Jo March in Adamo’s Little Women and Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia.
Additionally, she has sung the title roles in Giasone, Hansel and Gretel and Der Rosenkavalier as well asprincipal mezzo-soprano roles in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Le nozze di Figaro, Madama Butterfly, Die Zauberflöte, Falstaff, Rigoletto, The Mikado, La Traviata, L’enfant et les sortilèges and The Love for Three Oranges, to name a few. Cherry performed many roles with New York City Opera and traveled with them to Japan for Little Women and Madama Butterfly. Click here for full biography.
Recent & Upcoming Engagements
- Bon Appétit – Julia Child (role debut), El Paso Opera, March 2020
- Sister Angelica – Princess (role debut), Opera UTEP, April 2019
- Die Zauberflöte – Third Lady, El Paso Opera, January 2019
- Hansel & Gretel – Hansel, El Paso Opera, January 2018
- La Cenerentola– Tisbe (role debut), El Paso Opera, March 2017
- Dog Days – Captain, Original Cast Album, October 2016, Prototype Festival, January 2016, Los Angeles Opera, June 2015, Fort Worth Opera, April 2015, World Premiere, September 2012
- L’italiana in Algeri – Isabella (role debut), Opera Company of Middlebury, VT, May-June 2014
- Le nozze di Figaro – Cherubino, Winter Opera of St. Louis, November 2014
- Die Zauberflöte – Third Lady, Opera Tampa, February 2014
Lucretia in The Rape of Lucretia
“The rich, beautiful voice and regal bearing of Cherry Duke made her Lucretia a memorable performance. Her poise and the intensity of her acting caused the entire audience to become increasingly involved in her plight. Here is a singing actress about whom we should hear more and more over the next few years.”
—OperaJamboree
Carmen
“[The opera] CARMEN needs a fine Carmen, of course, and St. Petersburg Opera has one in Cherry Duke….Duke brings an exciting combination of sexiness and intelligence to French opera’s greatest femme fatale. In a way, Duke’s performance on Friday felt not only fully lived but also like an astute commentary on her iconic character.
“Carmen’s seduction of Don José, the hapless corporal who falls under her spell, was sensationally rendered by Duke in the gypsy temptress’ famous Habanera (“If I love you, watch out!”) and then with slinky provocation in the seguidilla in which she did suggestive things with a rope.
“With her sharp-featured profile, Duke looked the part of the sultry spitfire, and her French had a throaty expressiveness in the card scene that foretells Carmen’s death.”
