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The American meezzo-soprano, Tamara Mumford, obtained her Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Utah State University (May 2003); and later began graduate studies at Yale University in the fall semester of 2003.
Tamara Mumford has earned recognition as one of today’s most versatile and dynamic American vocal artists. She began her stage career as part of the Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera, where she made her debut as Laura in Luisa Miller in 2006 (at age 25) and has since appeared onstage in more than 215 performances with the company. Most notable Met appearances include L’Amour de loin, Anna Bolena, Rigoletto, Ariadne auf Naxos, Alban Berg's Wozzeck, W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, and R. Wagner’s complete Der Ring des Nibelungen, which have all been included in The Met: LIVE in HD cinema broadcasts around the world.
Tamara Mumford has toured Asia with Dudamel and the Berliner Philharmoniker, toured Spain with the Münchner Philharmoniker and performed with Jaap van Zweden at the Hong Kong Philharmonic and The Seoul Philharmonic. She has also performed with the Philharmonic of Jalisco at the International Festival Cervantino and The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Amsterdam. With both the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and Dallas Symphony Orchestra, she gave acclaimed Der Ring des Nibelungen performances as Erda. She has appeared with all major orchestras across the USA, including the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Seattle Symphony Orchestra and Utah Symphony Orchestra. A devoted interpreter of Gustav Mahler, she has become a top choice for orchestras in Gustav Mahler's Symphonies Nos. 2, 3 and 8, Das Lied von Der Erde, Rückert-lieder, and Kindertöten-lieder
Tamara Mumford’s operatic reach extends from early music to contemporary premieres. She earned high praise for her Ottavia in L'incoronazione di Poppea at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival and at the BBC Proms, and the title roles in Dido and Aeneas at the Glimmerglass Festival, Tancredi at Teatro Nuovo, L’Italiana in Algeri at the Palm Beach Opera, Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia, conducted by Lorin Maazel at the Castleton Festival; Georges Bizet's Carmen at the Crested Butte Music Festival, Principessa in Suor Angelica and Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi in Italy. World Premiere performances include Siddhartha, She at the Aspen Music Festival, Charlie Parker’s Yardbird at Opera Philadelphia, The Thirteenth Child at Santa Fe Opera, and tours of the US and Europe in John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.
Tamara Mumford has appeared on the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra's recording of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 (Deutsche Grammophon), which won the 2022 GRAMMY Award for Best Choral Performance. Other recordings include Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (Erda and First Norn), George Frideric Handel's Messiah with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, L.v. Beethoven's Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (Avie), and John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon). She was one of sixteen singers invited to work with Naxos Records and Yale University in a collaborative project to record the complete songs of Charles Ives.
In 2025-2026 season, Tamara Mumford made her Wiener Philharmoniker debut singing Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 under the baton of Andris Nelsons, as well as her Waltraute debut in Götterdämmerung with The Atlanta Opera, also singing 1st Norn. During the summer, she performed Leonard Bernstein's ‘Jeremiah’ Symphony with the Aspen Music Festival and Robert Spano, and was the mezzo-soprano soloist in L.v. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Gustavo Dudamel at the Hollywood Bowl.
Ms. Mumford makes a host of anticipated orchestral appearances during the 2026-2027 season. She sings Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo and Fabio Luisi, and Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3 with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Stéphane Denève, as well as with Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, in his final Symphony Hall performance as Music Director. The season also includes L.v. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the New World Symphony and North Carolina Symphony Orchestra, J.S. Bach's Matthäus-Passion BWV 244 with Jaap van Zweden and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and his Weihnachts-Oratorium BWV 248 with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, as well as Erda/Flosshilde in Das Rheingold with Markus Stenz and the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra.
Tamara Mumford now makes her home in Connecticut with her husband Nathan and two children Brian and Claire. |
