Andrea Baker

Mezzo Soprano

“Baker’s Monisha, Lowe’s Pastor, and Faatoalia’s Remus practically raise the roof of the Bluma Appel.”

Glenn Sumi, Intermission Magazine

Biography

Hailed as a “stupendous and heartrending” talent (Bild Zeitung), American-Scottish mezzo soprano Andrea Baker is internationally renowned for her “enchantingly powerful” performances (Das Orchester). An operatic trailblazer, she was the first African American to take the role of Carmen in Australia, at Sydney Opera House, the first to take the roles of Fricka, Erda, and Waltraute in Wagner’s Ring in China at the Beijing Festival, and Ortrud in Lohengrin in the South Korean premier of the opera for the Daegu Festival.

She continues in the iconic roles of Hattie and Stella in Sondheim’s Follies for the Wiesbaden State Theater and will make her debut in the role of Klamentia in Hindemith’s Sancta Susanna, directed by the award-winning performance artist Florentina Holzinger for the state theatre of Mecklenburg, followed by Wiener Festwochen, Opera Stuttgart and the Volksoper Berlin. Highlights of recent seasons include a return to the Edinburgh International Festival as Anita in West Side Story with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Gardiner), and woman.life.song by Judith Weir with Chineke! Orchestra (Eddins). Her recent performances as Monisha in Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha for the Luminato Festival in Toronto won best opera for 2023 (Broadway World) and was named one of the New York Time’s top 10 classical music performances of 2023.

"A beautiful, talented mezzo with a sublime voice" (Sydney Morning Herald), Ms Baker has collaborated with many of the world's leading conductors, including Sir Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, Sir Donald Runnicles, Richard Hickox, and Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Her acclaimed interpretations range from Amneris in Aida and Mescalina in Le Grand Macabre to Serena in Porgy and Bess. Her debut in the role of Die Amme in Die Frau Ohne Schatten was an extraordinary success and saw her lauded as 'born to sing and act the music of Richard Strauss.'”

Opernetz

Cultural Magazine

Upcoming Performances

February 2025

Feb 15

15 February 2025

Sing Sistah Sing!© Tales of Transatlantic Freedom

Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts, 99 University Ave
Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6 Canada

Tales of Transatlantic Freedom is a powerful music theatre performance; an exploration of African diasporic narratives that decolonises and deconstructs musical forms.

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May 2025

May 02

02 May 2025

Scott Joplin's Treemonisha

Harris Theater Chicago, 205 E Randolph Street
Chicago, Illinois 60601 United States

Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha — A Musical Reimagining combines all of the original source material with a new story and libretto by acclaimed playwright and broadcaster Leah-Simone Bowen along with Emmy-nominated co-librettist Cheryl A. Davis. The sole surviving opera by Joplin, the “King of Ragtime,” Treemonisha was a groundbreaking work that fused Western classical music with popular Black music from the era, including blues, gospel, and ragtime.

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