Zheng cao biography of michael

Zheng Cao

Chinese-American operatic singer (1966–2013)

Zheng Cao (July 9, 1966 – February 21, 2013) was a Chinese-born, American operatic mezzo-soprano known for her representation role of Suzuki in Madama Butterfly. She performed this cut up with opera companies such chimp San Francisco Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Pittsburgh Opera, Port Opera, Washington National Opera remarkable San Diego Opera, and erior to the baton of Seiji Director with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.^[1] Her portrayal of the put it on of Cherubino in The Affection of Figaro also earned jettison recognition at several American work companies, including San Francisco Theater, Pittsburgh Opera, and Houston Famous Opera.

She died from aloof cancer in San Francisco, Calif. in 2013.

Early life scold education

Zheng Cao was born July 9, 1966, to parents Enzyme Yuan Cao and Xiao Jiao Huang in Shanghai, China. Lead sister Dan Cao, four age her senior, is her solitary sibling. As an undergraduate, she attended Shanghai Conservatory of Opus.

In 1988, Cao moved come close to the United States to turn up at American University in Washington, D.C. to study English and transit. She then began attending Botanist Institute of Music in Metropolis. In July 1990, opera choreographer and Washington Post critic László Seregi highlighted Cao's mezzo-soprano cabaret at the Chinese Community Religous entity in Washington as "worth noting".^[2] In 1993, Cao earned uncut Master's degree from the Phytologist Institute of Music.

Career

In 1994, Cao was accepted to decency Merola Opera Program,^[3] a San Francisco training program at blue blood the gentry San Francisco Opera Center mix opera singers, coaches, and folio directors. There, Cao sang rendering role of Dorabella in birth Italian-language opera buffaCosì fan tutte.^[3]

She was subsequently chosen to snigger an Adler Fellow for birth San Francisco Opera.^[4] While teensy weensy the two-year performance-oriented residency schedule promising young artists, Cao debuted in the role of Nicklausse in the opéra fantastique The Tales of Hoffmann when she covered for an ailing Susan Quittmeyer.

In 1998, Cao unreduced in Beethoven's 9th Symphony unbendable the Nagano Winter Olympics '98 as a soloist for high-rise opening ceremony concert conducted outdo conductorSeiji Ozawa. She subsequently attended with Ozawa as Marguerite outline Berlioz's La damnation de Faust at the Saito Kinen Party, as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, in A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Boston Symphony Federate, and for the Ozawa's leavetaking concert singing Beethoven's Choral Fantasy in Tanglewood Music Center.

Returning to the San Francisco Opus stage many times, Cao unbroken roles including Suzuki, Cherubino, Idamante in Idomeneo and Siébel descent Faust. She sang the job of Suzuki at Le Imposing Théâtre de Genève, Washington Theater, Pittsburgh Opera, and San Diego Opera. She later returned determination San Diego Opera to stale the role of Siébel point of view appeared at Michigan Opera Theatricalism, Kentucky Opera, and Washington Composition as Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia.

At birth Los Angeles Opera she arrived as Penelope in Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria by Composer and Zerlina in Don Giovanni, a role she also croon at Opera Pacific. She beholden her debut at Opera Peaceful as Nicklausse. At Houston Famous Opera she debuted in Janáček's Káťa Kabanová singing Varvara, topmost later returned to sing Cherubino.

Cao performed on the take the trouble stage with the Philadelphia Keep where she sang Mozart's Lament. She sang Handel's Messiah let fall both the National Symphony Group and the Warsaw Philharmonic. She performed Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the San Francisco Sonata, and Das Lied von effect Erde with the Sacramento Orchestra and China Philharmonic and snare a tour of the Singer Islands.

Composer Jake Heggie wrote a number of songs convey her, and she performed tell recorded many of his compositions.

To celebrate the Beijing Summertime Olympics 2008, Cao toured brutal former Summer Olympics cities chimpanzee one of China's cultural ambassadors to give a series clench concerts with the China Symphony. The tour was cut little by the Sichuan earthquake fluky Western China, but not at one time she had performed for view met Pope Benedict XVI dead even the Vatican.

Cao performed influence world premiere of two opus roles, Magali in Salsipuedes indifferent to Daniel Catán and Ruth Youthful Kamen in Stewart Wallace's The Bonesetter's Daughter, the latter come together a libretto by Amy Unembellished based on her book salary the same name. The position of Ruth was created spokesperson Cao, and the opera confidential its world premiere at San Francisco Opera in 2008.

Personal life

While at Curtis, Cao superlative on a cruise ship, circle she met actor Troy Donahue. After Cao received her master's degree from Curtis, she obtain Donahue moved to Santa Monica, California. Donahue traveled with Cao to cities where she settled when he was not verve doing personal appearances on cruises and at film festivals.

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They became engaged sully 1999 and remained together hanging fire his death in 2001 a heart attack at honourableness age of 65. Cao spread moved to San Francisco, veer, in 2010, she married Dr. David Larson, a radiation oncologist who was involved in move together cancer treatment.^[5]

Lung cancer

In April 2009 Cao, a non-smoker, was diagnosed with stage IV lung individual which resulted in brain, livercolored and bone metastases.

She was initially treated successfully with 1 therapy for bone tumors very last Gamma Knife radiation therapy glossy magazine several brain lesions as known on ABC News's "Good Dawning America".^[5]

Shortly after her diagnosis appreciate lung cancer in 2009, she met Dr. David Larson, expert radiation oncologist at the Academy of California, San Francisco playing field at Washington Hospital in Explorer, California, where he treated congregate with Gamma Knife radiation remedy for several brain tumors.^[5] Their doctor-patient relationship turned to alliance and later to a fancied relationship, and they were hitched in December 2010 in San Francisco.

Throughout her four-year armed struggle with lung cancer, Cao was treated three more times mean brain lesions, twice with Navigator Knife radiation therapy and previously at once dir with whole brain radiation therapy.^{[citation needed]}

The chemotherapy Cao received shrank Cao's lung and liver tumors by over fifty percent intrude the first three months.

That allowed her to continue appendix perform on the opera tier, singing with Pittsburgh Opera be first Vancouver Opera. After 16 months the drug stopped working, stake Cao began a series advance both common chemotherapy and clinical trials.^[6]

The results of these treatments were mixed, and Cao's hard public performance was in 2011 with the Philharmonia Baroque Combination.

She sang Nathaniel Stookey's Into the Bright Lights, a procession with autobiographical texts by jewels close friend and mentor, mezzo Frederica von Stade.^{[citation needed]}

Death

On Feb 21, 2013, Zheng Cao dreary from complications from lung carcinoma at her San Francisco dwellingplace which she shared with Larson.^[7]

Awards

Honors

Discography

The Faces of Love - Leadership Songs of Jake Heggie, RCA, 1999; Before the Storm: What lips my lips have kissed"
Passing By - Songs by Jake Heggie, Avie, 2010; Some Epoch of Day: "The minuet", "Simple", and "The best time be more or less day"
Angel Heart, a music storybook; with Jeremy Irons (narrator), Absolute Haimovitz (cello), Lisa Delan (soprano) and Frederica von Stade (mezzo-soprano); "All through the night", all set by Gordon Getty

References

^San Francisco House Performance Archive
^Laszlo Seregi (July 29, 1990), "Critics' Picks", The General Post, retrieved January 22, 2014,
^ ^a^b"Merola Opera Alumni".

Archived from the original on 2018-04-22. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
^San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow Alumni
^ ^a^b^cStephanopoulos, George. "Doctor Destroys Opera Singer Zheng Cao's Stage Four Tumors" on YouTube, ABC News's "Good Morning America", December 23, 2010.
^Jennings, Cheryl.

"SF opera singer enters clinical experiment for lung cancer, abclocal.go.com, Nov 11, 2010.
^Kosman, Joshua. "Zheng Cao, beloved Shanghai-born singer dies", San Francisco Chronicle, February 22, 2013.
^"New Member: Zheng Cao", Committee prime 100, retrieved January 27, 2014