Matthew Sprizzo

La Damnation de Faust at the Dresden Semperoper:
"You can't get closer to the French school of singing than Vinson Cole's Faust, with his lyrical tone production, expert use of voix mixte, delicacy of coloration, fine diminuendos, clear and heroic declamation... all could not be better."
                                                                                                                                                                                -Klassik.comReprinted 


Gluck's Alceste with the Collegiate Chorale and New York City Opera Orchestra: "It's fair to say that Vinson Cole, as Admète, emerged as the evening's true star.  Now nearing sixty, the tenor betrayed not a trace of vocal weakness, giving what amounted to a master class in lyric style.  With his generous use of voix mixte, he effortlessly amplified his sweet sound--when necessary--to heroic proportions.  Despite the concert setting, Cole gave an intense, emotionally committed performance that garnered him the lion's share of applause at the curtain call."
                                                                                                                                                                                             -Opera News

"Tenor Vinson Cole has rarely received his due as an artist in New York.  Concert opera suits him well; his remarkably fresh vocal form, thorough grasp of French style, admirably flexible dynamic palate, and keenly committed phrasing made his Admete the evening's undoubted hero." 
                                                                                                                                                                                  -Gay City News.com

Beethoven’s Fidelio in concert with the Syracuse Symphony:
“Veteran tenor Vinson Cole essayed the role of Florestan:  In fact, all of the character’s music was included in this presentation, starting with a stirring version of Gott!  Welch Dunkel  hier.  Cole possesses a lighter instrument   than one usually hears in the role, but his consistently well-produced and strong high tenor was just right.”
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Recital at Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center:
"...a superb recital...Cole's distinguished record became clearly apparent as he summoned his voice to lofty heights and to his deepest lower range with utter control and support, doing this with a buoyant sense of spontaneity whether in outgoing theatrical innuendos or in hushed intimacy.  Cole's voice remains supple and assured.  Most striking on Monday was the sensitive way he tailored changes of color to communicate the emotional meaning of a word despite a mix of languages and assorted musical styles.  This was especially noticeable at phrase endings, for which Cole carefully measured the speed of his vibrato--at times showing a flexible falsetto that opened up to full voice.  He maintained the intensity of tone quality whether airy or richly concentrated."  
                                                                                                                                                                               -The Washington Post


Recital at the Cleveland Institute of Music:
“Cole, an internationally admired singer, who recently joined the institute’s voice faculty, remains the embodiment of tonal sweetness and interpretive wisdom.  He invested every work on the program with emotional truth, keen attention to nuance and the kind of joyful singing that drew listeners deeply into the experience. ..Cole’s voice is in remarkable shape, his lyric tenor still an instrument of dulcet allure.  He connects phrases with seamless regard for line and poetry, whatever the language.”
                                                                                                                                                                         -The Cleveland Plain-Dealer
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Mahler's Eighth Symphony with Christoph Eschenbach and the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall:
"There was great singing from all the soloists...the ardent tenor Vinson Cole..."
                                                                                                                                                                                -The New York Times



                                                                                                
                                                                                               

 Kansas-City-born  Vinson Cole continues to sing an astonishing range of literature with musical and artistic assurance, consistently bringing lyrical beauty to the most heroic full-lyric tenor repertoire.    The veteran tenor has collaborated with the foremost conductors:   Christoph Eschenbach, Claudio Abbado, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, James Conlon, Kurt Masur, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Gerard Schwarz, and the late Sir Georg Solti, Herbert von Karajan and Giuseppe Sinopoli.   His active repertoire includes Bruckner’s Te Deum, Verdi’s  Requiem, Beethoven’s  Missa solemnis , Mahler’s Eighth Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde.   Especially celebrated for his traversals of French literature, he has sung Berlioz’ L’Enfance du Christ with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the same composer’s Roméo et Juliette with Christoph Eschenbach and the Orchestre de Paris.   He has been welcomed at the Ravinia and  Aspen Music Festivals, and been guest soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago, Milwaukee, Boston and Seattle Symphonies and New York’s Collegiate Chorale.   He is also an ardent art-song interpreter, most recently heard at the Kennedy Center (2012) as part of the distinguished Vocal Arts Society series.  In addition to his concert and recital activities, Mr. Cole teaches at the University of Missouri/Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, the Cleveland Institute of Music and Aspen Music Festival and School.


In opera, he has sung principal roles at the Metropolitan, Seattle, Houston Grand, New York City and San Francisco Operas, Milan’s La Scala, Paris’ Bastille Opera,  Brussels’ La Monnaie, Dresden’s Semperoper, Naples’ Teatro San Carlo, the Munich, Hamburg, Bavarian and Vienna State Operas and Royal Opera, Covent Garden.  In addition he performed title role of Mozart’s Idomeneo at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.


Vinson Cole completed his vocal studies at the Curtis Institute of Music under the tutelage of legendary singer and teacher Margaret Harshaw.
                                                                                                                                                                                                  

                                                                                          
 

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