Toby Newman
B i o g r a p h y
Described by the New York Times as "fresh-voiced and sympathetic," Toby Newman most recently appeared as Emilia in LoftOpera’s critically acclaimed production of Rossini's Otello. Her repertoire includes Sesto in Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Opera Roanoke), Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti (Anchorage Opera), Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice), Bianca in The Rape of Lucretia (LoftOpera), and the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors (The Bushnell Center for Performing Arts, Hartford, CT). Of her Dorabella in Così fan tutte with St. Petersburg Opera the Tampa Bay Examiner said “”Ms. Newman had the entire audience laughing continuously from falling up the stairs to hang onto her departing love’s leg to learning coquetry from Ms. Seipel. She has such a clear voice and amazing range that it gave listeners delightful shivers.”
Ms Newman is also an accomplished oratorio singer, with recent credits including the alto solos in Mendelssohn's Elijah, Handel’s Messiah, Judas Maccabaeus, and Dettigen Te Deum, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Cantata 80, Brahms’ Liebeslieder Walzer, and one of the two “divas” in the New Haven Symphony Orchestra’s Dueling Divas concert. Ms. Newman's discography includes the alto solos on the newly released recording of Emerson Eads' Mass for the Oppressed.
In addition to her work in traditional opera and oratorio, Ms. Newman works extensively in the realm of new music and contemporary opera. Her longtime association with Meredith Monk has included multiple recordings and concerts at Carnegie Hall and other renowned venues. Additional new music highlights include the lead female role in Robert Een’s opera The Escape Artist at Disney Hall in Los Angeles and repeat performances in Maharashstra, India, and world and American premieres by composers such as Thomas Pasatieri, Huang Ruo, and Gerald Cohen, among many others.