Launched in 2005, WellesleyWeston Magazine is a quarterly publication tailored to Wellesley and Weston residents and edited to enrich the experience of living in two of Massachusetts' most desirable communities.
Issue link: https://wellesleywestonmagazine.epubxp.com/i/210435
Opera Singers in Our Midst In the summers after freshman and sophomore years she studied opera performance MARK KIRYLUK at the New England Conservatory Opera Studio. Mongiardo earned a masters degree from the Yale Opera program where she studied with artistic director Doris Yarick Joanna Mongiardo as Therese in Les Mamelles de Tiresias with Central City Opera. Cross. That performance-based program gave Mongiardo important stage experience. Mongiardo moved to New York City and began her studies with the late Dodi Protero, who she considers the most influential teacher for the technique and singing she does today. She currently studies with mezzo-soprano Penelope Bitzas at Boston University when she is in the Boston area. Voices of Encouragement Operatic voices mature over time, and both young singers had their family's unfailing support through their early 20s. Lawrence has been the recipient of several prestigious prizes and grants, among them the Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the arts, a two-year We l l e s l e y We s t o n M a g a z i n e | w i n t e r 2 0 1 3 / 2 0 1 4 financial grant for young artists of extraordinary talent that helps to cover artistic and living expenses. Mongiardo won the Sullivan Award in 2003. After Yale, Mongiardo moved to New York City where she supported herself as a temp and nanny. After five years of freelance work (CONTINUED ON PAGE 107) 102