Alfreda Burke made her Carnegie and Orchestra Hall debut in Strauss’ Elektra (Fourth Maid) with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra led by Daniel Barenboim. She has made solo debuts with the Chicago Symphony at Ravinia under Erich Kunzel, Chicago Opera Theater, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, MSU Symphony Orchestra, Grant Park Music Festival, Rackham Symphony Choir & DSO/Michigan Opera Theater, Lancaster Festival, Auditorium Theatre, Chicagoland Pops Orchestra, Chorus Angelorum, WSCU, Harper Festival Chorus, Metropolis Symphony Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, WSSO, Wheaton Symphony Orchestra among others. Ms. Burke’s oratorio, opera and concert engagements include the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts broadcast on WFMT-FM; Mozart Requiem, Mass in C Minor, Mass in C Major; Handel’s Messiah; Christianson & Anderson’s Too Hot to Handel; Mahler 2nd Symphonie; Poulenc Gloria; Rutter Requiem; Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem; Boulez’s Le Visage Nuptial under Pierre Boulez; Puccini’s Turandot (Liu); Menotti’s Amahl & the Night Visitors; Barber‘s Knoxville: Summer of 1915; Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess; Bernstein’s West Side Story; Kern’s Show Boat (Kennedy Center/National Tour, Auditorium Theatre),directed by Harold Prince; and World Premiere of Payne’s Lincoln’s Farewell. She was featured in CSO’s Symphony Center Inaugural Festival and Radiothon.
Ms. Burke’s work in recordings, music video, television, radio, film and commercials includes: soprano vocalist in Bobby Lewis release and Dawa movies (LA) soundtrack featuring Ramsey Lewis, James Mack and members of the CSO; Celine Dion and R. Kelly’s I’m Your Angel; profiles and broadcasts on CBS, NBC, WGN, WFLD, WCFC, WTTW (PBS), Odyssey, CAN-TV, satellite, municipal cable, and internet; features on WFMT, WBEZ, WMBI, WETN, WGCI, WYCA and WOSU; The Visit, The Visitors, Unconditional Love, U.S. Marshals. Ms. Burke has made guest soloist appearances singing spirituals on the WTTW/Odyssey broadcast of 30 Good Minutes. She has performed the National Anthem for the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Fire.
Alfreda Burke received rave reviews for a Community Concerts national tour with tenor Rodrick Dixon. “...Burke sang with such deep and knowing pathos that the audience was kept in rapt silence until the end of the set. ...Then Burke keened the achingly beautiful ‘Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child,’ with arching chromaticisms that enhanced the melodic line.” Ms. Burke has released her solo debut CD, From the Heart (2002); upcoming season includes a duet CD/DVD release; Auditorium Theatre, Rackham Symphony (Fox Theater), Todi Music Festival and two World Premieres in the making. Ms. Burke received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Roosevelt University; and served as Alumna Ambassador for RU’s 60th Anniversary. She is Guest Lecturer in Voice at Wheaton College Conservatory.
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