“Not the Average Love-Wrought Soprano"


 
Beowulf by Han Lash

Beowulf by Han Lash, Photography by Clint Funk

“Both Beowulf and his mother, portrayed by Noah Gartner and Angela Born, respectively, hone in on their tortured characters through their emotional acting….Well-decorated opera singers, Gartner and Born prove mastery over their craft with their rich, clear voices, geared towards storytelling.

-Cori Lang with Chicagoland Musical Theatre, 2022


“Born is easy to listen to and watch, she has natural stage gifts.”

-M.L. Rantala with Hyde Park Herald, 2022


“Soprano Angela Born sang the role of Elisabeth Woodbridge…bringing an engaging stage presence and expressive lyric voice to the role”

-Katherine Buzard with Chicago Classical Review, 2021


“Soprano Angela Born makes easy vocal and emotional work of Woodbridge, giving us such a highly-charged character that she cannot be still, bounding through life one discovery after the next.”

-Aaron Hunt with Chicago Theatre and Concert Reviews, 2021


Angela Born in SongSlam 2021, photo credit to SnoStudios

“ …the all-female team of composer Isaac, soprano Angela Born and pianist Jordan Crice left no doubt what they would say to a contemporary Mr. Webb, and how they’d say it. Besides impeccable musicianship, Born offered facial expressions as changeable as South Carolina weather, while Crice commented bitingly in snatches of boogie-woogie and stride piano.”

-David Wright for Chicago Classical Review, 2021


Angela Born in virtual 2020 production of Stitch. Art and Photography by Tamzin Ritchie.

Angela Born in virtual 2020 production of Stitch. Art and Photography by Tamzin Ritchie.

“…the worker in her closet {Born} was engrossed in a large ball of thick thread that slowly enveloped her in a web, offering powerful symbolism of the confinement her work requires. Angela Born, Mary Lutz Govertsen, and Rena Ahmed were the three workers, differentiated in the score only by number. Demonstrating their existence as mere cogs in a large machine. Their parts, entirely pre-recorded, were sung with conviction and great skill.”

-M.L. Rantala with Hyde Park Herald, 2020


“Laboring in a tattered environment closer to Wozzeck's than to Carmen's, there's no reprieve for these factory workers….Kudos to Angela Born, Mary Lutz Govertsen, and Rena Ahmed for pulling off the high-wire act of sustained, metaphorically naked (i.e., without instrumental accompaniment) vocal performance.”

— Deanna Isaacs with Chicago Reader, 2019



…inexplicably, a murderous cat (soprano Angela Born)”

- Hannah Edgar with Chicago Classical Review, 2019


Angela Born as Maria Luisa in With Blood, With Ink, Photography by Clint Funk

Angela Born as Maria Luisa in With Blood, With Ink, Photography by Clint Funk




New City's Top 5 of Everything 2016: Stage

December 15th, 2016 | Lucinda | Dark Sisters | Third Eye Theatre Ensemble

Top 5 Operas of 2016
“Der Rosenkavalier,” Lyric Opera of Chicago
“Das Rheingold,” Lyric Opera of Chicago
“Dark Sisters,” Third Eye Theatre Ensemble
“Don Quichotte,” Lyric Opera of Chicago
“Les Troyens,” Lyric Opera of Chicago
— Aaron Hunt for Newcity Stage

Third Eye Theatre provides a strong local premiere for Fairouz opera

November 1st, 2015 | Featured Artist | Concert of Mohammed Fairouz Music | Third Eye Theatre Ensemble

Soprano Angela Born delivered an impassioned performance of the extended song, Refugee Blues.
— Lawrence A. Johnson for Chicago Classical Review

Angela Born, Photography by MC Newman

Third Eye Theatre makes outstanding debut with Menotti’s “The Medium

November 1st, 2014 | Monica | The Medium | Third Eye Theatre Ensemble

Angela Born proved a terrific Monica. The young singer has a bright and lovely soprano and Born made the most of her vocal moments with an especially graceful rendition of her Act 2 Waltz. Yet she also brought fire and conviction to the play’s dramatic moments.
— Lawrence A. Johnson for Chicago Classical Review

Newcity's Top 5 of Everything 2014: Stage

December 24th, 2014 | Monica | The Medium | Third Eye Theatre Ensemble

Top 5 Operas of 2014
“Porgy and Bess,” Lyric Opera of Chicago
“The Medium,” Third Eye Theatre Ensemble
“Rusalka,” Lyric Opera of Chicago
“The Emperor of Atlantis/The Clever One,” Chicago Opera Theater
“The Rape of Lucretia,” Chicago Fringe Opera
— Aaron Hunt for Newcity Stage

Angela Born, Photography by Jonathan Cole

Preview: A Time-bending opera decades in the making

June 14th, 2013 | Meg Murry | A Wrinkle in Time | CU New Opera Works

From the opening, with Meg’s lyrical and nostalgic aria about her father’s teachings, the audience is transported into a starry-skied world of imagination and science. As Angela Born sings “you taught me pi is poetry,” we know this is not the average love-wrought soprano.
— Ruth Carver for Denver Classical Music Examiner

CU Opera performs magnificent version of Mark Adamo's 'Little Women

April 25th, 2013 | Beth | Little Women | CU Opera Program

In most opera reviews, the bulk of the ink is devoted to the cast’s performance, the director’s concept, the conductor’s interpretation. But there are times when performers and producers subordinate themselves so much to the music, to the vision of the composer, it is impossible to turn the focus away from the music itself. Whether this is conscious, the immersion is so complete that the reaction is less “What a great performance!” than “What a magnificent work of art!...Angela Born imbue[s] the doomed Beth with a palpable pathos, Born taking a slightly more fragile approach.
— Kelly Dean Hansen for Boulder Daily Camera

Angela Born, Photography by Lu Zang