Monica Yunus

Monica Yunus (; born 1977) is a Bangladeshi-American operatic soprano who has performed with many opera companies and music ensembles. She is the daughter of Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, Nobel laureate economist and former chief adviser of the interim government, Muhammad Yunus. About her singing quality reviewers from US dailies, The New York Times, the Charleston City Paper and the Palm Beach Daily News have described her voice as "especially winning", "utterly captivating" and "a voice destined for super-stardom" respectively. Her voice's performance range lies from a low A (A3) to a high F (F6). She performed regularly at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 2003-2014; appearing in several broadcasts of Metropolitan Opera Live in HD.

Early life and education Monica Yunus was born in 1977 in Chattogram, Bangladesh to Muhammad Yunus, an economist and his then wife, Vera Forostenko, the daughter of Russian immigrants to Trenton, New Jersey. She has one younger half-sister, Dina Yunus. Yunus' parents met in 1967 while attending Vanderbilt University. They were married in 1970. Yunus' parents' marriage ended within months of her birth, and Forostenko returned with Monica to the United States to live with her parents, claiming that Bangladesh was not a good place to raise a baby.

Yunus grew up in the home of her Russian grandparents in New Jersey where she learned to speak and write Russian and other Slavic languages as well as English. Yunus also speaks and writes fluently in Italian, Spanish, German, and French. Yunus' grandmother was highly influential in encouraging her interest in singing. At a very early age, Yunus' grandmother began taking her to sing in the choir at their Russian Orthodox Church, a choir Yunus would sing with throughout her entire childhood. It was while singing in this church choir that Yunus first fell in love with classical music.

At the age of eleven, Yunus' mother helped her begin studying voice formally through lessons. Shortly thereafter, Yunus became a member of the Metropolitan Opera's Children's Chorus for a number of years. At 13, Monica was accepted to the prestigious Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts, and this is where she first became interested in becoming a professional opera singer. Beginning at the age of 15, Yunus spent five summers at the Aspen Music Festival honing her craft with some of the world's best music teachers.

In 1997, after attending the prestigious Lawrenceville School, Yunus entered the Juilliard School from which she graduated four years later with a Bachelor's in Vocal Performance. During this time Yunus sang in several professional operas (see below) and was a member of Berkshire Opera's Young Artist Program. She also studied at the Bay Area Summer Opera Theatre Institute in the summer of 2000. Yunus remained at Juilliard for graduate studies and earned a master's degree in Vocal Performance in 2002. While in graduate school at Juilliard, Yunus was a member of Pittsburgh Opera's Young Artist Program and she performed the role of Mrs. Hayes in Susannah at the Juilliard Opera Center.

In the 2003–2004 season, Yunus made her debut with Glimmerglass Opera as Fleurette in Offenbach's Bluebeard. This was followed by her Metropolitan Opera debut as Barbarina in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro conducted by James Levine. Yunus is the only singer born in Bangladesh to have sung at the Metropolitan Opera. Yunus also sung in the Met's productions of Die Frau ohne Schatten, Le Rossignol, and The Queen of Spades that season in minor roles. Following these performances she made her European operatic debut as Oscar in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera with Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin, where she also appeared as a last minute replacement in the role of Amor in Orfeo ed Euridice. Yunus also won the Willam Matheus Sullivan Foundation Singer Award in 2003.

In the 2007–2008 season, Yunus appeared as Norina in Donizetti's Don Pasquale with Syracuse Opera, reprised the role of Papagena at the Metropolitan Opera, sang at the Al Bustan International Festival of Music and Arts in Beirut, Lebanon, and gave a recital in Sarasota, Florida. Yunus also performed in concert with Plácido Domingo and Julia Migenes at the Cairo Opera House.

In the 2008–2009 season, Yunus returned to the Metropolitan Opera for several performances including singing at the company's 125th Anniversary Gala and appearing as Poussette in Manon, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Yvette in La Rondine. In addition, she appeared in concert at the Tilles Center in New York and at the Francisco Marroquín University in Guatemala City. She has since returned to the Met as the Novice in Suor Angelica (2009), Papagena in The Magic Flute (2010), Alice in Le comte Ory (2011), Yvette in La rondine (2013), the unborn in Die Frau ohne Schatten, and a member of the Quartet in the world premiere of The Enchanted Island (2011-2014).

Other recent appearances by Yunus include the roles of Countess Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro with Omaha Opera (2010), Gilda in Rigoletto with Montana Lyric Opera (2010), Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi with Opera Santa Barbara (2016), Pamina in The Magic Flute with Omaha Opera (2013), Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro with Opera Memphis (2016), and Yum-Yum in The Mikado with Opera Memphis. In 2017, she was scheduled to appear as Musetta in La bohème with Opera Colorado.

Yunus' other concert and recital appearances include solo recitals at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, and Steinway Hall, in New York, at the Manuel de Falla Hall in Granada, Spain, and at Madrid's Auditorio Nacional with Her Majesty Queen Sofia in attendance. She has also performed in recital at Steinway Hall. Chamber works performed include Delage's Four Hindu Poems in concert in Alice Tully Hall, and Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate at St. Anselm's Church in New York.

Yunus was inspired by the events of 9/11 to co-found Sing For Hope, an organization that harnesses the power of the arts to create a better world.