Category: Reviews

***** Genuine honesty This is an outstanding CD. Walker's music is beautiful in itself, and it is performed with such honesty by this soprano Michelle Areyzaga and her collaborator Jamie Shaak. I especially loved The Sunrise Ruby. Ms. Areyzaga's vocal technique is flawless. She creates a sonic world that transports the listener. Her phrases intend [...]

…the solid singing of soloists and chorus under the guidance of musical director Francesco Milioto made for a diverting evening, leaving listeners with a keener grasp of a beloved work during this Mozart-saturated year. Many of the vocal highlights came courtesy of Michelle Areyzaga, whose Pamina gleamed with vocal luster. —Michael Cameron - Chicago Tribune [...]

***** Enriching and delightful! I find myself continually listening to this CD, it has such grace and richness. Gwyneth Walker is a remarkable composer. She is extremely innovative and creative with her compositions especially with my favorite piece on the album "Rhythms of the North Country. Jamie Shaak is an accomplished and talented pianist. Her [...]

Areyzaga has never sounded better. If her smile was radiant, her voice was even more so. She soared easily through the Peri's songs, while displaying a fine acting technique. (The Peri, who accompanies humans to paradise, longs to enter also, but is barred because of her parentage. The drama tells of her quest for the [...]

Michelle Areyzaga's touching portrayal of Zerlina went to the heart of peasant-girl innocence, shining especially in the famous duet, 'La ci darem la mano' and the aria, 'Vedrai, carino.' —Michael Huebner - The Birmingham News - April 09, 2006 (Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni)

The meat of the program was Britten's 'Les Illuminations,' a vocal setting of poems by Arthur Rimbaud, sung with sensitivity by soprano Michelle Areyzaga. Areyzaga proved a fine interpreter of the work. Her burnished tone and nimble athleticism carried the day —Michael Cameron - Special to the Chicago Tribune - Oct 10, 2005 (Les Illuminations)

Michelle Areyzaga is one of Chicago's top sopranos. Her technical skill and the colors she can produce are amazing, but best of all when she sings a song she has the knack of feeling every note and communicating it's every emotional nuance to an audience." "Listening to a concert by her makes music written by [...]

At the center of the work was the highly praised Chicago soprano Michelle Areyzaga, whose rich and expressive voice was matched by her exceptional ease of movement as she served as a kind of go-between with the dancers in her midst. —Hedy Weiss - Chicago Sun Times - March 8, 2005 (Guest Vocalist with Luna [...]

Michelle is one terrific singer. She is admired for the purity and quality of her tone. —Welz Kauffman - Ravinia Music Festival - 2005

The plaudits attending the début of lyric soprano Michelle Areyzaga were well deserved. The purity of her tone was exceptional and her stage manner outstanding. Her clear bell-like presentation was full-hearted and authentic. At times, especially when Areyzaga was singing in the lower register, the music seemed to embrace her and her voice became another [...]