Biography

Cynthia Jacoby an American dramatic soprano, completed her musical studies in 1984 at the University of South Florida, Tampa, where she received a talent grant to study under the tutelage of Annamary Dickey (Metropolitan Opera). She also received scholarships to study at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, with Prof. Cynthia Hoffmann 1984-86. In her senior year sang the New York Premiere of Schostakowitsch's The Nose. During her time in New York she sang Antonia in The Tales of Hoffmann with New York´s “Opera at the Academy”. At the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina she was given a scholarship to sing Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana and the soprano solo in the Verdi Requiem. During her studies in New York she was chosen to sing in the masterclasses of Birgit Nilsson and Regina Resinik also masterclasses with Regine Crespin in San Fransisco. Before she entered the San Francisco Opera young artist program she was on a year long tour of the midwest with Opera Iowa singing Il Campanello by Donizetti. Cynthia Jacoby is a graduate of the San Francisco Opera Center Merola Program. At the San Francisco Opera Center Ms. Jacoby sang Giorgetta in Puccini's Il Tabarro and Nella in Gianni Schicchi. Before embarking on her European tour she was invited to sing The Princess in the West Coast premiere of Dvorák's The Devil and Kate with the Berkeley Opera.

Cynthia Jacoby has won many prizes in both national and international vocal competitions. In 1987 and 1988 she won first prize in the New York and San Francisco auditions of the San Francisco Opera and was awarded stipends from the San Francisco Opera. After winning the Viktor Fuchs Scholarship Award Auditions and the Loren Zachary Auditions she was invited to the Ambassador Auditorium in Los Angeles where she sang Anna in Puccini´s Le Villi under Lalo Schiffrin. In 1988 Ms. Jacoby won the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions in San Francisco and the IIE Award for European Study.

In 1989 Ms. Jacoby embarked on a European tour. Upon arriving in Europe she won the Prix de lÁssociation des Artistes Musiciens in Geneva, Switzerland, for her performance of contemporary Swiss music by Ernst Bloch. In 1990 Cynthia Jacoby was a prizewinner in the International Belvedere Competition in Vienna, Austria, and was awarded the Stuttgart Opera Prize, where she was given the opportunity to sing the title role in Puccinis Madama Butterfly.

During the opera seasons 1991-93 Ms. Jacoby sang the dramatic soprano roles at the Städtische Bühnen Münster in Münster Germany. These roles included Ariadne auf Naxos, Cio Cio San, Tatiana, in Eugene Onegin, Giorgetta in Puccini´s Il Tabarro and Alice Ford in Verdi´s Falstaff. From 1992-2009 Cynthia Jacoby studied voice with the German soprano Edeltraud Blanke.

In 1994 she was awarded the Friedelind Wagner Stipend to continue the study of Wagnerian roles. The same year she made her debut at the Hamburg Staatsoper singing Gertrud in Hänsel and Gretel. The next season she was invited back to Hamburg to sing in Harry Kupfer´s Production of Il Trittico. During the coming seasons 1995-1997 Ms.Jacoby sang not only as a guest artist at Opera Houses in Munich, Frankfurt, Colongne, Bremen, Bonn, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg and Schwerin, engaged for roles like Madama Butterfly, Jenufa, Ariadne, Giorgetta, and Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg but she was also a permanent member of the soloist ensemble engaged by the Saarländisches Staatstheater in Saarbrücken, Germany. At the Saarländisches Staatstheater she sang Donna Anna, in Don Giovanni, the title roles in both Jenufa and Ariadne auf Naxos, and in following season she made her Wagner debut als Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. In 1998 and 1999 Ms. Jacoby was invited back to Saabrücken to be a guest artist singing the title role in their new production of Tosca. During this time she made her debut in the German National Theater as Donna Elvira in Mozart´s Don Giovanni and sang the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos once again. In 2000-2001 she sang both her debut as Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier and her first Desdemona in Verdi's Otello. Since 2004 Ms. Jacoby has been a freelance artist. Besides her many opera engagements, she sings in Gala Concerts and recitals throughout Germany and France. In seasons 2005-2006 she sang her role debut as Leonora in Verdis Forza del destino in Hagen, Germany. Most recently she was chosen to sing the title role in a new production of Puccini´s Tosca in the 2007-2009 season with the Landesbühnen Sachsen in Dresden, Germany.

Along with her extensive stage engagements she has been invited to teach many vocal masterclasses throughout Europe and serve on the jury for a number of international vocal competitions. Since 2006 Cynthia Jacoby also teaches voice at the Folkwang Hochschule für Musik in Essen, Germany, and since 2007 in her private vocal studio in Paris, France.