Mezzo - Soprano
Bracha Kol - Mezzo Soprano
 
Biography

Bracha Kol was born in Israel. As one of the leading classical singers of her country, she regularly performs Opera, Lied and Oratorio and her concert repertoire ranges from early music to contemporary works.

Bracha began her musical career as a child prodigy playing the recorder, performing with the Israel Philharmonic conducted by Maestro Zubin Mehta at the age of 13, traveling to Holland to study with Marion Verbruggen at the Utrecht Conservatory, where she obtained her Artist Degree, with honors, at the age of 17.

Aside from the celebrated Maestro, she has collaborated with eminent conductors such as Philippe Entremont, Peter Schreier, David Stern, Asher Fisch, Harry Bicket, Dan Ettinger, Jonathan Webb, Saulius Sondeckis, Alberto Zedda, Leon Botstein, Paul Nadler, Gabor Hollerung, Herman Max, Jiri Kout, Nicolas Kraemer, Nir Kabaretti, Gil Shohat, David Sebba, Yishai Steckler, Murry Sidlin, Yuval Zorn, Guy Feder and with stage directors such as Carlos Saura, Omri Nitzan, Moshe Kepten, David Alden, Jakob Peters-Messer, Emilio Sagi, Jean Claude Auvray, Elaine Tyler-Hall and Niv Hoffman.

Outside of her country, where she performs regularly with all the leading orchestras, she has performed as a soloist with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra Rome, the orchestra of "Maggio Musicale Fiorentino" (Florence, Italy) the Greek Chamber Orchestra, and with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra.
In April 2013 she performed her US debut as a soloist in several concerts with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra in Verdi's Requiem and with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra in Dvorak's Stabat Mater under the baton of Maestro Lucas Richman. Her performances were praised by the press.

Bracha is frequently invited to perform at the Israeli Opera. Among her varied roles there: Cenerentola in "La Cenerentola"(Rossini), The Fox in "Cunning little vixen" (Janacek), Sesto in "Guilio Cesare" (Handel), Olga in "Yevgeni Onegin" (Tchaikovsky), Varvara in "Katya Kabanova" (Janacek), Mrs. Sedley in "Peter Grimes" (Britten), A Woman Born for Love at the world premiere of "The Child Dreams" (Gil Shohat) which was performed both in Israel and in the Wiesbaden Festival, Germany, The Queen of Hearts at the world premiere of "Alice in Wonderland" (David Sebba) and Moritz at the world premiere of "Max & Moritz" (Gil Shohat).

Bracha sang the leading role in Carmen (Bizet) in a concert version.

Bracha is often invited to perform as a soloist with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra led by Maestro Zubin Mehta. The Israeli premiere of "Requiem Ebraico" (Zeisl) where she sang the Mezzo-Soprano solo role, was recorded for a CD.

In May 2008 Bracha made her debut at the "Maggio Musicale Fiorentino" (Florence, Italy) singing the role of Mercedes in "Carmen", conducted by Maestro Mehta.

Bracha is often invited to perform in contemporary music pieces and in world premieres. Numerous composers have dedicated works to her.

She is a member of the "Meitar Ensemble" that specializes in contemporary music.

Bracha puts special emphasis on her performance of Israeli music and Jewish artistic music. She was invited by the "Israel Music Institute" to record a disc in Yiddish and is member of an ensemble that performs Ladino music.

Bracha recorded jointly with flutist Er'ella Talmi and Maestro Yoav Talmi their latest CD "Talmis play Talmi", which was released on Centaur Records, USA.

Bracha Kol's latest projects were performed to enthusiastic audiences and critical acclaim, and included Verdi's Requiem, "Pierrot Lunaire" (Schönberg), J.S. Bach solo Cantatas no. 35, 53 and 170, Il Tramonto (Respighi), El Amor Brujo (De Falla). Les Nuits d'ete (Berlioz) "Kindertotenlieder" and "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen" (Mahler) and the world premiere of "5 Tragic songs" by the renown composer Leon Biriotti (Uruguay) which was performed on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Jerusalem, and recorded to the Dutch television.

Bracha holds an artist degree with distinction in singing, from the Tel-Aviv Academy of music.
During her study she recevied scholarships of excellence by the IVAI institute, as well as the "America Israel Cultural Foundation".

After her graduation from the Tel Aviv University, she traveled to New York to complement her studies with the renowned Mezzo-Soprano Mignon Dunn and later in Paris and Milan with the opera singers coach, Robert Kettelson.

La Cenerentola
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