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CREE CARRICO
ACTOR/SOPRANO
BIOGRAPHY
Soprano Cree Carrico is “a notably versatile performer” and “sensational actress” who is continuously praised by critics for her “crystal clarity at the center of every note” making it “hard to watch anyone else when she’s on stage.” As a lead interpreter of 20th and 21st century works, Carrico collaborates closely with several composers and librettists and performs in many premières of contemporary pieces, including the New York première of Jake Heggie’s monodrama At the Statue of Venus. Since then, Carrico sang Lisa in Little and Vavrek’s Dog Days at the Opera America New Works Forum and has also performed on Royce Vavrek and Lauren Worsham’s 21st century downtown salon, The Coterie. Additionally, during BAM’s Next Wave Festival, Cree appeared on both nights of Beth Morrison’s 21c Liederabend, op. 3, singing Julian Wachner’s Come My Dark Eyed One, and sang the world première of Marie Incontrera and Royce Vavrek’s Albert, Bound or Unbound. More recently, she has created the roles of Zegner Daughter, Littler in the world première of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s Proving Up with Opera Omaha and subsequently at The Miller Theater in New York, and made her Fort Worth Opera début as Rosemary Kennedy in the world première of David T. Little and Royce Vavrek’s JFK, with subsequent performances with Montreal Opera.
This season, Carrico’s operatic engagements include Musetta in Intermountain Bozeman Opera’s La bohème and On Site Opera’s production of Song of the Nightingale, in the roles of Frog and Mechanical Nightingale. [read more...]
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"... this Norina was a dynamo…” – Voix des Arts
Don Pasquale – “this Norina was a dynamo, each of her words articulated with dramatic intention that required no translations her trill and top C deployed with technical acumen and bewitching insouciance…charmingly sung, bringing the playful lady’s character into focus before she sparred dazzlingly with Malatesta in their duetto…Carrico was a Norina who weaponized her upper register, especially in Acts Two and Three: notes above the stave were fired like rockets, never missing their targets…marvelously coy… Cree's artistry put me very much in mind of Sills at the top of her career.”
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"... Carrico stole the show …” – Today y mañana
Guys and Dolls – “Cree Carrico stole the show as Adelaide and had us laughing the moment she stepped on stage! Her voice, acting, and singing were spectacular, and she so comfortably wore the character of Adelaide that it was impossible to separate actress from character!”
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"... mesmerized an audience that held their breath..." – Front Row Center
Insomnia – “Carrico’s luminous musical offerings were superbly expressed and articulated as she masterfully characterized each word and intone of the narrative. The audience was transfixed as Carrico ineffably controlled her every movement, facial expression, and sound while richly expressing the murmuring mysteries and torments of sleeplessness. When she paused at the end of a section, Carrico mesmerized an audience that held their breath until she moved and broke the spell."
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"...brilliantly revealed Stella’s mixed and troubled emotions...” – Rutland Herald
A Streetcar Named Desire – “Soprano Cree Carrico brilliantly revealed Stella’s mixed and troubled emotions.”
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"...her crystal-clear soprano-belt mix... – Opera News
The Difficulty of Crossing a Field – “Carrico, a notably versatile performer, plays up the humor in her part with a girlish impetuosity that spills naturally from her crystal-clear soprano-belt mix.”
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"...hard to watch anyone else when she’s on stage..." – New York Classical Review
Morning Star – “Cree Carrico, meanwhile, brought a bright soprano and wide, winging phrases as Esther. She is, moreover, a sensational actress; there is an irrepressible brightness in her spirit, and it’s almost hard to watch anyone else when she’s on stage. Even in her reactions to other characters, she hints at a rich inner life with just the flitting of her eyes, or the quick bite of a nail.”
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"...produced a voice which was vibrant and powerful..." – Jamestown Post Journal
Ballad of Baby Doe – “Lovely Cree Carrico, in the title role, is slender and small in stature, yet she produced a voice which was vibrant and powerful in its middle register, and which soared to a crystalline top, solid in sound, yet tempting us to expect an extremely high note, then seemingly effortlessly, rising even higher. Brava, diva!”
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"...commanded the stage with her studied affectlessness...” – Opera News
The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahoganny – “Carrico, who had a gleaming, focused ping to her tone and a Louise Brooks haircut, commanded the stage with her studied affectlessness.”
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"...Carrico's Cunegonde is more determined... well up to the vocal pyrotechnics..." – Opera News
Candide – “Cree Carrico’s Cunegonde is a steelier, more determined creature and thus a perfect counterpoint to Bernegger’s Candide. She is well up to the vocal pyrotechnics of “Glitter and Be Gay,” vaulting to an interpolated high F in one run. Carrico makes the number a sincere attempt to pull herself out of despair, and the comic bits—an intransigent clasp, actually trying to dry her tears with a bracelet as the lyric suggests—are natural and earned.”