Barbara Bonney (born April 14, 1956) is an American soprano. She performs lyric soprano roles in operas by Mozart and Richard Strauss, as well as lieder performances.

Early life

Bonney was born in Montclair, New Jersey. As a child, she practised piano and cello. When Bonney was 13, her family moved to Maine, where she joined the Portland Symphony Youth Orchestra as a cellist. She studied at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) for two years, learning German and music, including voice with Patricia Stedry. During her junior year, she studied at the University of Salzburg, where she changed from playing the cello to singing. At Mozarteum University Salzburg, she continued her studies. Years later, she received an honorary doctorate from UNH.

Career

In 1979, Bonney joined the Staatstheater Darmstadt. She made her first appearance as Anna in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Over the next five years, she performed in Germany and across Europe, including at the Royal Opera House in London and La Scala in Milan. In 1987, she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, playing the role of Naiad. That same year, she also performed at the Vienna State Opera as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier. Since then, she has appeared at major opera houses worldwide and at the Salzburg Festival, where she sang the role of Servilia in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito.

Bonney is known for her work as a lyric soprano in opera. She has also performed in over 90 recordings, including 15 solo recitals. From 1999 to 2001, she did not perform in opera to focus on lieder recitals. She later said that solo recitals did not have the same sense of teamwork as performing in opera productions. In 2002, she sang “The Willow Song” on the album When Love Speaks (EMI Classics), which includes famous actors and musicians performing Shakespeare’s works. Other recordings include her 2006 project Welcome to the Voice, composed by Steve Nieve.

On August 1, 2006, IMG Artists announced that all of Bonney’s future performances were cancelled. The company said the reason was “due to personal circumstances.” In a 2007 article, Bonney explained that these circumstances included her difficult divorce from Maurice Whitaker. She had previously been married to Håkan Hagegård, and that marriage also ended in divorce.

Bonney is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She is also a professor of singing at Mozarteum University Salzburg and a member of the faculty at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria.

In 2011, on her 55th birthday, Bonney opened a boutique clothing store in Salzburg called LUNA Dress Design. The brand is now named “Bonney & Kleid.”