Ann Benson - Coastal Carolina University
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Ann Benson

Artist in Residence

Jonathan Doe
Contact Ann Benson
843-349-2512 abenson@coastal.edu

Edwards Building 155

Spring 2019 Office Hours:
Mondays 4:00 - 4:30pm;
Tuesdays 1:30 - 2:30pm and 4:00 - 4:30pm;
Wednesdays 4:30 - 5:00pm

Biography

Ann Benson made her New York City operatic debut in 1993 in the title role of Puccini’s Tosca for New York City Opera and her New York recital debut at Weil Hall (Carnegie Hall) in 1989. She has performed many popular soprano operatic leading roles including Amelia in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera (Connecticut Opera, Peoria Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera). Violetta in La Traviatta in La Traviata (national PBS telecast), Nedda in I Pagliacci (Chattanooga Opera), Madama Butterfly (Gala opening of the Koger Center for the Arts, Columbia, SC), both Musetta and Mimi on La Boheme ( Opera Company of Mid-Michigan), Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte, Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, Freia in Wagner’s Das Rheingold, Marenka in The Bartered Bride, Georgetta in Il Tabarro, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, Mother in Menotti’s Amahl and Night Visitors , Susannah Polk in Susannah; Broadcast of Tosca ( Syracuse Symphony), Britten’s War Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah (telecast), Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 ( telecast), Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis (Anchorage Symphony), and the complete Les Nuits d’Ete (South Carolina Philharmonic). Other telecasts include DEBUT: Ann Benson, soprano, and William Schuman’s song cycle, Time to the Old in A William Schuman Celebration. She has been featured guest artist with the Pacific Symphony, Indianapolis Philharmonic, Ann Arbor Symphony, New Haven Festival Orchestra, NYC’s Hunter College Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony, Savannah Symphony, Asheville Symphony, and Missouri Symphony. Musical Theatre productions include Desiree in A Little Night Music and Mrs. Lovett in another Sondheim masterpiece, Sweeney Todd. Her popular Kitchen Sink concerts with her husband , David Bankston, debuted at the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s Opera Learning Center, Lincoln Center, Dec. 2008 . Dr. Benson is an alumna of Opernhaus Zurich’s Internationales Opernstudio, holds a Master’s degree in voice performance from Indiana University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of South Carolina.

Education

DMA from USC 1992

MM from Indiana University

Teaching Areas  

Applied Voice

Research Areas

Classical and Musical Theatre performance, Musical Theatre Pedagogy