Megan Moore

Lyric coloratura mezzo-soprano Megan Moore is quickly garnering attention as an artist of versatility and depth in the repertoire of Rossini, Handel, and Mozart. The Observer noted, "Megan Moore as Dorabella poured out rich, buttery mezzo tone, a genuinely beautiful voice" for her performances in Così fan tutte.

In the 2022-23 season, Ms. Moore will make her company debut at Opera Philadelphia covering both roles of Desdemona and Emilia in Rossini's Otello with a cast that includes Lawrence Brownlee under the baton of Corrado Rovaris; participate in Plácido Domingo's world-famous singing competition Operalia taking place in Riga, Latvia; make her role debut as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with Annapolis Opera; sing the title role in Gluck's Orfeo with Orchestra of the Triangle; return to the role of Dorabella in Così fan tutte for her company debut at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; and join Berkshire Opera Festival to make her role debut as Ruggiero in Alcina led by Gary Wedow. She will make recital appearances in Baltimore and New York City, in addition to a tour of several cities in Iowa. Concert engagements include appearances at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall for Bach's cantata Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind, BWV 153 and the Gaillard Center in December for the Charleston Symphony's annual Holiday Pops! concert.

The previous season, Ms. Moore joined Harry Bicket to recorded Handel’s La Lucretia and Il delirio amoroso with The English Concert; made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Brett Dean’s Hamlet under the baton of Nicholas Carter and participated in the Guggenheim Museum's Works & Process with the creative team as well as cast members of the opera; made her role debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at the Berkshire Opera Festival; gave a world-premiere piece by Jessica Meyer at Shriver Hall with violist Jordan Bak; performed the role of Claire in Bernstein's On the Town with Opera Naples; covered the role of Dorabella in Così fan tutte with the San Diego Opera; and joined the Santa Fe Opera to workshop The Righteous, a new work composed by Gregory Spears with libretto by Tracy K. Smith which will debut in the company's 2024 season. In recital, she took the stage in New York, Washington, D.C, and Alabama. Ms. Moore also made a special appearance with the Borromeo String Quartet  to sing Handel arias from Hercules and Alcina in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall.

In July 2021, Ms. Moore made her Santa Fe Opera debut creating the role of Ino in the world premiere of The Lord of Cries composed by John Corigliano with libretto by Mark Adamo. Additional highlights of the 2020-21 season include singing the role of Medea in Handel’s Teseo concucted by Gary Wedow and directed by Stephen Wadsworth with Juilliard 415 as well as participating in Carnegie Hall’s SongStudio with Renée Fleming in partnership with her frequent collaborator, pianist Francesco Barfoed.

Additional opera roles include Costanza in Haydn's L'isola disabitata with Opera Naples under the baton of Ramón Tebar; Doraballa in Così fan tutte at Juilliard conducted by Nimrod David Pfeffer and directed by David Paul; Nicklausse in a new  Jennifer Williams production of  Les Contes d'Hoffmann led by Caren Levine at the Miami Music Festival; Arsamene in historically-staged production of Handel’s Serse with Haymarket Opera Company. Other favorite operatic roles of Ms. Moore include the title role in Massenet's Cendrillon, Angelina in La Cenerentola, Blanche de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites, and Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Ms. Moore has also performed a concert of Purcell and Handel excerpts with the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra.

Recent awards include first prize at George London Foundation Competition, Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and the Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition. She has also taken home top honors from the Naumburg Foundation International Vocal Competition in Concert Repertoire, the Gerda Lissner Lieder & Song Competition, and the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition.

Ms. Moore is co-founder of Lynx Project, which amplifies diverse voices through new song commissions, inclusive concerts, and educational programming. Since its founding five years ago, Lynx Project has commissioned over four hours of new music through its Amplify Series, which sets texts by youth with non-verbal autism.

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Ms. Moore received her training at Miami University, Eastman School of Music, Internationale Meistersinger Akademie, and The Juilliard School.

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Francesco Barfoed (b. 1996) is a Danish pianist, born and raised in Copenhagen. A young collaborative and solo artist on the rise, he frequently collaborates with mezzo-soprano Megan Moore, and recently they won 1st prize in the Copenhagen Lied-Duo Competition, 1st prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and 2nd prize at the Naumberg Foundation International Vocal Competition. In the 21-22 season they toured with their recital, I SEE LIGHT, and performed at the Alys Stephens Center in Birmingham, Alabama, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and Merkin Hall at Lincoln Center, among others.

In 2022, Francesco was an Opera Coaching Fellow at Aspen Music Festival, participated in Renée Fleming’s SongStudio at Carnegie Hall, co-arranged and performed a two-piano version of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress at Juilliard and performed alongside New York Festival of Song’s Steven Blier as a Schwab Rising Star at Caramoor.

An avid collaborator with both singers and instrumentalists alike, Francesco is a member of the Wundertrio, a prize-winning piano trio that met at the Manchester Music Festival in Vermont in 2017. Francesco was on the coaching faculty at Saluzzo Opera Academy in Italy in 2021 and teaches sight-reading for pianists at Juilliard.

In his already extensive career, Francesco has performed Rachmaninoff’s 1st Piano Concerto, as well as on the national Danish Radio (DR P2), in Italy and in Austria, and at various chamber music festivals across Denmark, including the Hindsgavl Festival.

Francesco is currently pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at The Juilliard School, where he also completed a master’s degree as a Kovner Fellow. He also holds degrees from The Royal Danish Academy of Music and Rutgers University, where he won the concerto competition in 2018.

Francesco is a passionate promoter of cultural exchange between Denmark and the United States. His studies in the U.S. have been supported by several prizes and scholarships from organizations like Denmark-America Foundation, Bikuben Foundation, and perhaps most notably the Victor Borge Scholarship, which is awarded to just one musician from Scandinavia each year.

Francesco holds Italian citizenship, and aside from being fluent in Danish, Italian, and English, he is conversant in German and French.