Emily
Pulley's radiant voice and electrifying acting have won acclaim across
the country. Opera News writes, “Pulley’s bright, perceptively
shaded tone and sensitive, responsive acting make her a refreshing heroine,
always playing the role rather than the star turn.” The New York
Times described her portrayal of the title role of Floyd's Susannah
as being, “sung with unfailing warmth, radiance, and spirit,"
and elsewhere has lauded her singing as, "faultless and exquisite.”
In the 2004-05 season, Emily Pulley will return to the Met as First
Lady in a new production of Die Zauberflöte, and will
make her debut with Houston Grand Opera as Lysia in Mark Adamo’s
new opera, Lysistrata. Highlights of Ms. Pulley’s 2003-04
season include Valencienne in The Merry Widow with the Metropolitan
Opera, Musetta in La Bohème with the Metropolitan Opera
and Opera Colorado, Nedda in Pagliacci and Rosario in Goyescas
with Central City Opera, Lavinia Mannon in Mourning Becomes
Electra with New York City Opera, and her first performances of
Minnie in La Fanciulla del West at Glimmerglass Opera.
In the summer of 2002, Emily Pulley made her debut with the Royal Opera
House, Covent Garden as Mimi in La Bohème. She returned
to the Metropolitan Opera for performances of Blanche in Dialogues
of the Carmelites, Marguerite in Faust, Anne Trulove in
The Rake’s Progress, and Musetta in La Bohème.
Ms. Pulley also sang her first performances of Violetta in La Traviata
with Toledo Opera, and Micaela in Carmen with Opera Omaha.
Her Metropolitan Opera performances in the 2001-02 season included Gretel
in Hänsel und Gretel, Thérèse in Les
Mamelles de Tirésias, and Musetta in La Bohème.
She also sang her first performances of Tatiana in Eugene Onegin
with Opera Colorado.
During the 2000-01 season Ms. Pulley sang Carmina Burana and
Nedda in Pagliacci with Minnesota Opera; Alice Ford in Falstaff
with Opera Omaha; Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel with the
National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan; Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro
in her debut with Los Angeles Opera; and returned to the Metropolitan
Opera for performances of First Lady in Die Zauberflöte.
Ms. Pulley also sang Carmina Burana with Minnesota Opera and
Elijah with the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan. Her
engagements in the summer of 2001 included a Verdi and Puccini concert
at the Ravinia Festival and gala concerts with Berkshire Opera Company.
Ms. Pulley’s other Metropolitan Opera roles have included Nedda
in Pagliacci, Valencienne in The Merry Widow, Olga
in Fedora and Emma in Khovanshchina. She debuted with
the Seattle Opera in the summer of 2000 as Gerhilde in Die Walküre,
and, in the summer of 1999, Ms. Pulley sang Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus
with Central City Opera. Other highlights of the 1998-99 season included
the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro with Utah Opera; Woglinde
in Das Rheingold with Dallas Opera; and Haydn's Lord Nelson
Mass and Vivaldi's Gloria with Jane Glover at the Performing
Arts Center at SUNY Purchase.
Other roles recently performed by Ms. Pulley include Fiordiligi
in Così fan tutte, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Cleopatra
in Giulio Cesare with Wolf Trap Opera and the title role in
Floyd’s Susannah with Opera Theater of Pittsburgh and
the Opera Festival of New Jersey. Emily Pulley made her Lincoln Center
debut singing the Mass in G as part of the Mozart Bicentennial
Celebration. Her other concert repertoire includes Beethoven's Missa
Solemnis, Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony, Brahms' Ein
deutsches Requiem, and Handel's Messiah. Her recital engagements
have ranged from the Nantucket Musical Arts Society to the Texas A&M
Chamber Series, and she has given many benefit concerts across her home
state of Texas.
Raised in College Station, Ms. Pulley graduated summa cum laude from
West Texas A&M and earned her M.A. in Music from the University
of North Texas. Wolf Trap Opera awarded her a Catherine Filene Shouse
Career Grant, and Central City Opera selected her to receive a Richard
F. Gold Career Grant. She was also the recipient of a Jacobson Study
Grant from the Tucker Foundation and was invited to perform in the 1995,
1996, and 1997 Tucker Galas.
