Danielle Talamantes

“It’s not often that an opera-goer is fortunate enough to witness the birth of a star!”
San Francisco review of Danielle Talamantes' debut as Violetta in "La traviata"

“It’s not often that an opera-goer is fortunate enough to witness the birth of a star!,” critics hailed for Danielle Talamantes’ recent role début as Violetta in La traviata.  This season, Talamantes sings Violetta in La traviata with Hawaii Opera Theatre, Mimì in La bohéme with Fairfax Symphony and returns to The Metropolitan Opera to sing Frasquita for their productions of Carmen. In addition, she will appear as a soloist in multiple classical masterworks including Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at Carnegie Hall with DCINY and the US Naval Academy, Verdi’s Requiem with the National Philharmonic, El Paso Symphony and Chorus, Fauré’s Requiem and Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music with Eugene Concert Choir, Händel’s Messiah with La Jolla Symphony, Mendelssohn's Elijah with Choralis, and in the National Philharmonic’s Bernstein Choral Celebration concert.

In recent seasons, Talamantes performed the role of Marzelline in Fidelio with the Princeton Festival; Mimì in La boheme with the St Petersburg (FL) Opera, Symphony of Northwest Arkansas; the title role of Susannah with Opera Roanoke; Anna in Nabucco and Frasquita in Carmen with The Metropolitan Opera; Violetta in La traviata with Finger Lakes Opera and Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Cedar Rapids Opera Theater; a début at Spoleto Festival USA as Sergente in Veremonda. Additional concert works include  “Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman!” with Close Encounters with Music at the Manchester Music Festival and Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts; Mozart’s Requiem with Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Cathedral Choral Society, and Fairfax Symphony; Brahms’ Requiem with National Philharmonic, Choralis and St. Mary’s College; Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas brasileiras No. 5, Bach’s Magnificat, and Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte with the National Philharmonic; Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Handel’s Laudate pueri dominum, and Charpentier’s Te Deum with The City Choir of Washington; Händel’s Messiah with Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, United States Naval Academy, National Philharmonic, The New Choral Society, and Austin Symphony & Chorus Austin; Poulenc’s Gloria with Arizona State University’s Symphony Orchestra; Verdi’s Requiem with Gloria Musicae and the Oratorio Society of VA; soprano soloist in Bob Chilcott’s Requiem at Alice Tulley Hall; Dvořák’s Stabat Mater at North Carolina Master Chorale; Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with Manchester Symphony Orchestra; and recitals and masterclasses with El Paso Pro-Muisca, Washington & Lee University, James Madison University, Point Loma University, and Catawba College. 

Ms. Talamantes and Henry Dehlinger perform Heaven and Earth: A Duke Ellington Songbook, a luscious collection of brand-new arrangements of Duke Ellington standards and irreplaceable gems of the American Songbook – written especially for Ms. Talamantes, in recital at multiple venues across the country. She and pianist Henry Dehlinger also perform, in recital, a concert of gorgeous Spanish songs featured in their critically-acclaimed MSR Classics album: Canciones españolas. Talamantes and Dehlinger captivate audiences with tales of amorous longing, joy and despair as they bring the lush music and poetry of Spain to life. More information on both of these concerts is available at UIAPresents’ website.

Danielle first earned a spot on the Metropolitan Opera roster in the spring of 2011, covering the role of Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos, and was subsequently reengaged to cover the role of the Flower Maiden in Wagner’s Parsifal, the soprano in the quartet of lovers in the Baroque pastiche The Enchanted Island, as Flower Maiden in Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten, and the new Adès opera, The Exterminating Angel.  

Ms. Talamantes was awarded first-prize in several prestigious opera competitions, including: the Irene Dalis Opera San Jose Competition; Irma M. Cooper Opera Columbus Competition; XII Concurso de Trujillo; International Lotte Lehman Cybersing Competition; NATS Artist Award; and the Vocal Arts Society Discovery Series competition.   In addition, she garnered honors and awards in vocal competitions with the National Opera Association, Liederkranz Foundation, Seoul International Music Competition, Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, Giulio Gari Foundation, Gerda Lissner Foundation, Plácido Domingo’s Operalia, and Thomas Quasthoff’s Das Lied.

She is married to bass-baritone Kerry Wilkerson.