Valerie Gonzalez

Style: Opera; Folk; Rock; Classical; Pop; Musical Theatre

Bio:

Valerie is the Director of Viva La Diva Music Studio and Music Jam Ensembles in Fair Lawn, NJ and is the musical director for High Tech High School Theater Department musicals in Secaucus, NJ. She has been a professor of Voice/Vocal Pedagogy at New Jersey City University (NJCU); is a professor of English at William Paterson University (WPUNJ), and has been a private voice teacher for over twenty years.

In her earlier piano and vocal studies, won prizes from institutions such as Kiwanis Music Festival, Rotary Club, the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions; and two career grants from The Chalmers Fund of Canada. Gonzalez has performed in opera theaters around the world portraying coloratura soprano, soubrette and comprimario roles; earning a reputation for being an acrobatic singer and verismo actor and a brilliant coloratura. She began her professional career as an Resident Artist with the Canadian Opera Company (COC) in Toronto and went on to sing throughout the United States, Europe and Canada with directors such as Lotfi Mansouri, Nick Muni, Stephen Wadsworth, Colin Graham, Martha Clarke; and conductors such as Jane Glover, Martin Isepp, David Agler, Timothy Vernon and Nicholas Cleobury. Performance highlights include singing Zerbinetta/Ariadne with director Jonathan Miller at Broomhill Festival in England, and with Mark Lamos at Glimmerglass Opera Festival in New York; touring Canada as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble; performing Esmeralda (Bartered Bride) at Grand Théâtre de Genève/Switzerland; the title role in Le Coq D’Or at Opéra de Nice/France; Olympia (Tales of Hoffman) at Opéra de Montreal; Adele (Fledermaus), Oscar (Masked Ball), and Blondchen (Abduction) with Pacific Opera Victoria; Naiad (Ariadne) at Edmonton Opera, Papagena (Die Zauberflote) at Opera Lyra Ottawa, Flora (Turn of the Screw) at Calgary Opera; and Barbarina (Le Nozze) at the Canadian Opera Company. She has also had the privilege of creating roles in world premieres with the Canadian Opera Company; and showcasing the works of living composers at NJCU, New York City Opera, and with the New York City Composers’ Circle, including composers Tania León, Tann Dunn, Andrea Clearfield, Timothy Miller, Mark Landson, and Robert Cohen. Valerie received a B.Sc in Chemistry from the University of British Columbia and an MFA in Creative Writing from William Paterson University.

Voice Type: Soprano

Music Styles Taught: Opera; Folk; Rock; Classical; Pop; Musical Theatre

Availability: I am available as a performer; I am currently accepting private students; I offer lessons in a group environment; I have a wait-list for private lessons; I am available as a clinician or presenter; I accept students through a college or university program

Contact Information