13 Facts About Barbara Bonney

Barbara Bonney was born on April 14,1956 and is an American soprano.

Barbara Bonney is associated with lyric soprano roles in operas by Mozart and Richard Strauss as well as lieder performances.

When Bonney was 13 her family moved to Maine, where she became part of the Portland Symphony Youth Orchestra as a cellist.

Barbara Bonney spent two years at the University of New Hampshire studying German and music including voice with Patricia Stedry, and spent her junior year at the University of Salzburg, where she switched from cello to voice.

In 1979, Barbara Bonney joined the Staatstheater Darmstadt, where she made her debut as Anna in The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Barbara Bonney made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1987 in Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos in the role of Naiad and her Vienna State Opera debut the same year as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier.

For two years, starting in 1999, Barbara Bonney did not perform in opera, to focus on lieder recitals.

At the time, the IMG Artists website only stated the reason as "due to personal circumstances", but Barbara Bonney stated in a July 2007 article that those circumstances included her "difficult" divorce from Maurice Whitaker.

Barbara Bonney had previously been married to Hakan Hagegard for seven years; that marriage had ended in divorce.

Barbara Bonney is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and is visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London.

Barbara Bonney is on the faculty of Mozarteum University Salzburg, as University Professor of Singing.

Barbara Bonney is on the faculty of the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria.

Barbara Bonney opened a boutique clothing store based in Salzburg, LUNA Dress Design, on her 55th birthday in 2011.