Jonita Lattimore, a lyric soprano of immense vocal range and expressive musicality, has garnered plaudits for her vivid portrayals of roles ranging from Micaela to Jackie O as well as oratorio performances with major orchestras across the United States and abroad. John von Rhein from the Chicago Tribune calls Lattimore’s soprano a “richly upholstered voice with secure line and coloratura.” She “is surely destined for great things.” Her performance in Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with Concertante di Chicago was praised by the same paper for her “dusky low notes and effortless clarion upper range.” Her latest CD, Only Heaven, a collaboration of five singers, (PS Classics) was called “the most distinctive music heard all season” (USA Today), producing “spine chills and teary eyes” (Ft. Worth Star-Telegram).
Lattimore made her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in Kurt Weill’s The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, and was also seen on Lyric’s stage as Micaela in Bizet’s Carmen. She recently performed the role of Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with Tulsa Opera, and debuted in the title role in the world premiere and recording of James Niblock’s Ruth at Blue Lake Fine Arts Festival. With Houston Grand Opera she appeared as Marguerite in Faust, First Lady in Die Zauberflöte, and presented the world premieres of Harvey Milk, The Book of the Tibetan Dead, and Jackie O, which was recorded on Decca. She made her Paris debut at the Bastille Opera as Serena in Porgy and Bess.
2011/12 offered returns to the Orequesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, a work she repeated with the Nashville Symphony, and the Mozart Requiem with both Vermont Symphony and Louisiana Philharmonic. She also sang Rossini’s Stabat Mater at the Grant Park Music Festival. Among the 2010/11 highlights figured Haydn’s Paukenmesse with the Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico and concerts with the Charlotte Symphony. The 2009/10 season included a debut with Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico and returns to the Houston Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, Grant Park Music Festival and Chicago Sinfonietta. During the 2008-09 season, Lattimore sang Serena in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of Porgy and Bess, the Fauré Requiem with Eugene Symphony and Verdi’s Requiem with the Virginia and Colorado symphonies. During the summer, she returned once again to the Grant Park Music Festival, this time in Torke’s Plans.
After a busy summer performing in what was Xalapa Symphony’s first performance of Magic Flute and a return to the Grant Park Music Festival under Carlos Kalmar in Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis pacem, season 07/08 brought Lattimore to the Moab Music Festival and the Oakland East Bay Symphony in Verdi’s Requiem. Appearances with the Louisiana Philharmonic under Carlos Miguel Prieto in Brahms’ Requiem and selections of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess completed the season. During summer she performed Szymanowsky’s Stabat Mater at Grant Park.
Other recent oratorio and symphonic highlights include the Dvorak Requiem with the N. O. Tonkünstler Orchestra of Vienna, the Brahms Requiem in her debut with the Northern Israel Symphony, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Winter Park Bach Festival, Elgin Symphony and Albany Symphony, Britten’s Spring Symphony as well as the Brahms Requiem and Rosenkavalier all at Grant Park Music Festival, and Bernstein’s Songfest with the Chicago Sinfonietta. In 2003 she performed Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate and a Live at Ravinia concert of Berlioz selections, which aired live on WFMT, Chicago’s public broadcast radio network. With Boston Landmarks Orchestra she sang operatic arias and a world premiere ensemble work for three sopranos, May We Live, by Boston composer, Patricia Van Ness. Overseas, she appeared at the Edinburgh Festival and debuted in Italy with the Orchestra della Toscana in concerts and radio performances.
An artist profile of Jonita Lattimore was aired on Artbeat Chicago, an arts television program on WTTW-Chicago’s Public Broadcast System entitled Home Grown Diva; and she is featured on WTTW’s Opera Philes, a program of favorite opera arias and ensembles. She is the soprano soloist in Robert Avalon’s Sextet de Julia de Burgos, recorded on Centaur.
