Esham, Faith
Esham, Faith
Esham, Faith, American soprano; b. Vanceburg, Ky., Aug. 6, 1948. Following training with Vasile Venettozzi in Ky., she pursued vocal studies at the Juilliard School of Music in N.Y. with Adele Addison, Beverly Johnson, and Jennie Tourel. She made her formal operatic debut in 1977 as Cherubino at the N.Y.C. Opera, and then her European operatic debut in 1980 as Nedda in Nancy. In 1981 she won the Concours International de Chant in Paris, and sang Cherubino at the Glynde-bourne Festival. After appearing in the same role at Milan’s La Scala in 1982, she sang Micaela at the Vienna State Opera and Melisande at the Geneva Opera in 1984. On Dec. 27, 1986, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Marzelline. She appeared as Desdemona at the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff in 1990, and then as Musetta at the Cologne Opera and as Pamina at the Washington (D.C.) Opera. In 1992 she sang Micaela at the Cincinnati Opera, Cio-Cio-San at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and Cherubino at the Dallas Opera. She also pursued an active concert career and sang with major American orchs.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire