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Historical Piano Concerts Series
About the Musicians

Deborah Berioli

Deborah Berioli, soprano 

Born in Harmony, New Jersey, soprano Deborah Berioli possesses a full, rich, velvety voice that soars in the upper registers.  Her distinctive sense of musicality and ability to emote and communicate, immediately draws the audience into her performance. Her acting presence has been described as compelling, dramatic, enveloping and melting, raising the onstage temperature of many performances.

Berioli’s performance of Amelia in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera was chosen as one of the years’ top ten best classical performances in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2005.  The San José Mercury News critic wrote:  “The Act II love duet between Berioli (as Amelia, the heroine) and Bengochea (as King Gustavus III, a doomed man) was over-the-top beautiful, emotive and nuanced in ways that audiences are unaccustomed to hearing in San José.”

Most recently Berioli made her debut in the title role in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly with Opera San José in San José, California.  Her performances were hailed by critics as a touching, dramatic success.  She performed the role again with the Stockton Opera Association in Stockton, California in 2008.  A resident artist with Opera San José from 2004 to 2006, Berioli performed eight leading roles, including The Countess in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, the title role in Puccini’s Tosca, Amelia in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera, Mimi in Puccini’s  La Bohème and Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni.  On the concert stage, Berioli has performed in Carnegie Hall, Orchestra Hall with the Minnesota Orchestra, with Symphony Silicon Valley, Santa Cruz Symphony, Redwood Symphony, Venice Symphony, Charlotte Symphony and the acclaimed Mid-Summer Mozart Festival.

Berioli won first place in the Metropolitan Opera National Council competition’s Upper Midwest District and second place in the Upper Midwest Region in 1999.  Other operatic credits include performances with Minnesota Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Sarasota Opera and the Metropolitan Opera Guild.  She is also Founder and Artistic Director of the Venice Performing Arts Series in Venice, Florida. 

(September 2016) Since appearing in our series in 2012, Deborah Berioli has confronted and survived cancer. You can learn more and follow her return to teaching and performance on berioli.net and on her Facebook page . Join us in wishing her only the best.