A true singing actor, Ann McMahon Quintero is pleased to be joining the Santa Fe Opera in 2022 in one of her signature roles, Mistress Quickly in Falstaff. She will also be portraying the titular role in Lizbeth with Opera Orlando in May of 2022. Ms. Quintero opened her 2021-22 season with the role of Madame Flora in The Medium with Chelsea Opera, with whom she enjoyed a successful run as the inimitable Julia Child in Lee Hoiby’s Bon Appétit! in June 2021. 

Known especially for her Verdi and Baroque work, Ms. Quintero is a mezzo-soprano who enjoys a career on the operatic and concert stage where her rich voice has been praised for “warm, honeyed tones” (Baltimore Sun), and “fully nuanced” portrayals of characters ranging from Amneris and Azucena to Mistress Quickly and The Old Lady in Candide. 

Her previous work has included many enjoyable turns with Boston Baroque singing their annual Messiah as well as performances of Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9., M. Haydn’s Requiem in c minor, Cornelia in Giulio Cesare, Juditha in Juditha Triumphans, and Storgé in Jephtha. 

Ms. Quintero also enjoys a rewarding relationship with the Defiant Requiem Foundation, performing their special presentation of the Verdi Requiem in Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezín. She has performed the piece with Mo. Murry Sidlin over a dozen times throughout the U.S., sharing the story of Rafael Schächter and the brave artists of Terezín. In addition, she has also performed the piece Hours of Freedom: The Story of the Terezín Composer, a program of music composed at Terezín. 

The mezzo-soprano has performed the Verdi Requiem with the Buffalo Philharmonic, Cathedral Choral Society Washington D.C., Brevard Music Center, Berkshire Choral International, Southwest Florida Symphony, the South Bend Symphony, and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, with whom she also performed de Falla’s El amor brujo. 

Her operatic roles include Azucena (Il trovatore) at both Musica Viva Hong Kong and Opéra Royal de Wallonie; Amneris (Aida) with Annapolis Opera; Mistress Quickly (Falstaff) with Virginia Opera, Opera Delaware and Opéra de Lausanne; Ulrica (Un ballo in maschera) with Austin Lyric Opera, Suor Pazienza (Giordano’s Mese Mariano) with the Spoleto Festival (USA), Mary (Der fliegende Holländer) and Hippolyta (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) with Boston Lyric Opera; and The Old Lady (Candide) with Arizona and Portland Operas. 

Ms. Quintero made her international operatic debut with New Israeli Opera as La Haine in Gluck’s Armide and returned to the company as Marquise Melibea (Il viaggio a Reims). She sang Baba the Turk (The Rake’s Progress) with Angers Nantes Opera; Olga Olsen (Street Scene) with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Isabella (L’italiana in Algeri) with Palm Beach Opera; Gertrude (Roméo et Juliette) with Toledo Opera; and Glaša (Kátya Kabanová) and Teresa (La sonnambula) with The Santa Fe Opera. Other roles include Auntie in Peter Grimes, Tisbe in La Cenerentola, and Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte with Washington National Opera. 

Ms. Quintero is a 2006 winner of the Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation; second place winner of the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Vocal Competition; the George London Foundation; Sullivan Foundation and was a semi-finalist in Plácido Domingo’s Operalia. She sang at the National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honors Inaugural Awards Concert in 2008. She was a 2002 Grand National Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and made her first appearance on the MET stage in the Grand Finals Concert with Julius Rudel. 

What Ann did over the pandemic: 

Like everyone, the pandemic left Ann with an embarrassment of time, so she followed the crowd and turned to baking sourdough and learning to play the ukulele. She also earned her certification as a yoga instructor and did a deep dive into learning more about social justice. Ann turned to her linguistic nerdery as a form of income and mental fitness through editing, proofreading, and some copywriting work. She fostered a wonderful pitbull named Ella and will provide more photos than you need upon request.