Gianna Rolandi

Gianna Rolandi (August 16, 1952 – June 20, 2021) was an American soprano. She was based at the New York City Opera (NYCO) and enjoyed a 20-year national and international career in coloratura soprano roles. She retired from performing in 1994 and served as director of and principal instructor at the Lyric Opera of Chicago's opera studio until 2013.

Early life

Gianna Rolandi was born in New York City, and grew up in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Her mother, Jane Frazier, was an American soprano, and met her father, Italian obstetrician-gynecologist and celebrated composer of pre-war Italian popular music, Enrico Rolandi, while singing in Italy. Rolandi's father died in a car accident on Long Island when she was three, and the family moved back to the Carolinas, her mother's home. Rolandi's mother remarried in 1959 to John West Coker, chairman of the Music Department at Wofford College in Spartanburg, and a staff member of the Brevard Music Center. Rolandi's mother taught voice at Converse College in Spartanburg, while singing in many operatic productions in Spartanburg, the Brevard Music Center and the Charlotte Opera in North Carolina.

The soprano then trained for four years at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She was a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera auditions in 1974, winning the Minna Kaufmann Ruud Competition as one of the youngest winners in its history. "Beverly's door is always open," Rolandi stated in 1982. "It's wonderful to have someone who's sung all these roles and to ask her how she solved certain problems." Other major European engagements included Ginevra in Handel's Ariodante and Cleopatra in Geneva, Amenaide in Tancredi in Turin, and Elcia in Mosè in Egitto at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Italy.

Directorship at Lyric Opera of Chicago

Following her retirement from vocal performance in 1994, Rolandi devoted herself to pedagogy and administration. She became Director of Vocal Studies for the Lyric Opera of Chicago's Ryan Opera Center and the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists (LOCAA) in May 2002, and was then named director of the Ryan Opera Center and the LOCAA in 2006, succeeding Richard Pearlman upon his death. Rolandi retired as director after the 2012/2013 season.

Rolandi died at age 68 on June 20, 2021.