Bonnie Cutsforth-Huber
Mezzo Soprano

A formidable sound. One is immediately struck by the color and stamina in Bonnie's voice. The quality of tone is dark and smoky yet balanced in her lower register. Bonnie's strength is in her ability to fully embrace each character she is portraying.
Jay White - The American Prize

Bonnie Cutsforth-Huber was called to express pain and suffering in her performance of Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été and Purcell’s Dido’s Lament … [she] should be a source of pride to a Saskatchewan audience as she sings at such an impressive level.
Heather Persson - Saskatoon Star Phoenix

[She] brought her characters to life and sang quite expressively.
Guytano Parks - Choral Arts Cleveland Concert Review

A notable performance in the evening’s concert was by mezzo soprano Bonnie Cutsforth-Huber. Her rich, round timbre was perfectly suited to Mahler’s Lieder eines Fahrenden gesellen and reminds this reviewer of the great voices and interpreters Christa Ludwig and Kathleen Ferrier. Her interpretation of the Habanera from Bizet’s Carmen was also a highlight of the evening – expressive and beautifully sung.
Mario Piu Amico - Rome Festival Review

What a gorgeous, sensitive rendering of Lloyd’s score and my words. I got goosebumps. To possess such a voice!
Marilyn Lerch - Poet, in response to Ms. Cutsforth-Huber’s United States premiere of Lloyd Burritt’s Triptych

Her voice is truly a force of nature!
Lloyd Burritt - Composer

I have had the honor and privilege of collaborating with Bonnie on a five-song concert set entitled “Saskatchewan Songs.” I was able to attend the premiere, and her performance was everything a composer could have hoped for. She completely bewitched the audience with her stunning voice, “over the top” musicality and dramatic and agile mood changes throughout the performance. Her performance of my “hot off the press” score was spellbinding, completely memorized and with an uncanny sensitivity to the score. Rarely do I hear such impressive first performances of new works … A dream songstress for any composer.
Martha Hill Duncan - Composer

Bonnie has sung for my company for many years. She is a team player and comes to rehearsals and performance focused, prepared, energetic, and engaged, and giving her best. She continues to be a blessing and gift to each performance. She is very talented vocally, her acting is creative, and she is a delightful personality.
Kathryn Foster - Director and Producer - Center Stage Opera

With her versatility and a voice that has been described as “rich and dusky, but so beautifully clear and expressive,” Saskatchewan native Bonnie Cutsforth-Huber has established an active career in both concert and operatic mezzo soprano and contralto repertoire.

Her 2020 schedule has begun with two demanding roles with Amici Opera; Judith in Duke Bluebeard’s Castle and Aldagisa in Norma. Her 2019 schedule included two engagements with New York Lyric Opera Theatre; La Zia Principessa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Madame de la Haltière in Massenet’s Cendrillon, and Maman/La Tasse Chinoise/La Libellule/Un Pâtre in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges with Vera Causa Opera. Among her engagements in 2018 were the title roles of Thomas's Mignon and Massenet’s Thérese with Amici Opera. Highlights of the singer’s 2016/2017 season included the roles of Marthe in Gounod’s Faust and Beppe in Mascagni’s L’Amico Fritz. In the 2015/2016 season, she appeared with Amici Opera as Carmen in Carmen, Azucena in Il Trovatore, and La Cieca in La Gioconda. Other notable roles include Dalila in Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila with Amici Opera, Marcellina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with Rome Festival Opera, Isabella in Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri with Center Stage Opera and Zita in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi with Amalfi Festival Opera. In 2024, she will appear as the alto soloist in The Messiah Project – a film of Handel’s Messiah that will be featured in IMAX theatres.

As a soloist, she has appeared in prestigious concert spaces across the world, including Carnegie Hall (Mozart Requiem), Avery Fisher Hall (Duruflé Requiem), Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral (Andrew T. Miller's The Birth of Christ), and Cemal Resit Rey Hall in Istanbul, Turkey (Adnan Saygun's Yunus Emre). Concert engagements include performances with the New York City Chamber Orchestra, Altoona Symphony, Nittany Valley Symphony, the Presidential Orchestra of Turkey, the Cemal Resit Rey Orchestra, Susquehanna Valley Chorale, Harford Choral Society, and The Bach Concert Series of Baltimore. Most recently, she performed as the alto soloist in Verdi’s Requiem under the baton of Murry Sidlin with the Defiant Requiem Project, Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra and as the alto soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Regina Symphony Orchestra.

Ms. Cutsforth-Huber’s interests also extend to new works. She was the mezzo soloist in the world premiere of Robert Cohen's Alzheimer’s Stories with the Susquehanna Valley Chorale and Orchestra. She also premiered the song cycle Something So Necessary, So Real for contralto, piano and chamber orchestra by Timothy Melbinger. In recital, she premiered a five-song concert set, Saskatchewan Songs, in which poetry written by the singer is set to music by Kingston, Ontario composer Martha Hill Duncan, and also sang the United States premiere of Triptych, a song cycle for mezzo soprano, piano, and alto saxophone by Canadian composer Lloyd Burritt.

Ms. Cutsforth-Huber holds a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from the University of Saskatchewan, a Master’s degree in vocal performance from Southern Illinois University, and a Ph.D. in musicology from the University of Kentucky. She is a Canadian Citizen with a United States Green Card Living in State College, Pennsylvania.

Bonnie Cutsforth-Huber's Resume

ROLES PERFORMED

ORATORIO AND CONCERT APPEARANCES

EDUCATION

Doctor of Musicology - University of Kentucky, Master of Music in Vocal Performance - Southern Illinois University, Bachelor of Music Vocal Performance, University of Saskatchewan.

TEACHERS AND COACHES

Mark Nicolson – Vocal Teacher William Vendice & Craig Ketter – Vocal Coaches

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