Carol Plantamura

Carol Plantamura in 1979

Carol Plantamura (born February 8, 1941 in Los Angeles, California) is an American soprano specializing in 17th and 20th century music.

She graduated from Occidental College and was an original member of the Rockefeller Foundation-funded Creative Associates at SUNY Buffalo, under the direction of Lukas Foss. She has collaborated with such composers as Luciano Berio,^[1] Pierre Boulez, Vinko Globokar, Pauline Oliveros, Lukas Foss, Betsy Jolas, Will Ogdon, Bernard Rands, Frederic Rzewski, and Robert Erickson. Beginning in 1966, she was an original member of the improvising electronic music collective Musica Elettronica Viva in Rome, Italy.^[2]

From 1971 to 1984, Plantamura was active as a founding member, along with countertenor-composer John Patrick Thomas, cellist Marijke Verberne, and harpsichordist William Christie, of The Five Centuries Ensemble.^[3] The group combined early music with contemporary works (many written expressly for the ensemble) in concerts and radio broadcasts throughout Europe and America and on tours in Australia and New Zealand. Plantamura appears in six recordings of 17th-century Italian vocal music that The Five Centuries Ensemble made for the Fonit Cetra/Italia label in Italy (including works by d'India, Monteverdi, Luzzaschi, Gagliano, Frescobaldi, and A. Scarlatti—other ensemble members on the recordings include soprano Martha Herr, countertenor Thomas, lutenist Jürgen Hübscher, viola da gambist Martha McGaughey, and harpsichordist Arthur Haas).

Plantamura joined the staff of the University of California, San Diego in 1978,^[4] and also serves on the San Diego Early Music Society (SDEMS) Advisory Panel .

She made six recordings for Composers Recordings, Inc., and has recorded for Wergo, DGG, Fonit/Cetra, and Leonarda.

Books

• Plantamura, Carol (1983). Woman Composers. Bellerophone Books. (a coloring/paper-doll book)
• Plantamura, Carol (1996). The Opera Lover's Guide to Europe. Citadell Press.

Notes and references

1. Wright, Marjorie (2007) The Rise and Fall of a La Scala Diva, Janus Publishing Company, p. 45. ISBN 1-85756-612-2
2. Bernstein, David W. and Hatch, Christopher (2001) Writings through John Cage's music, poetry, and art, University of Chicago Press, p. 177. ISBN 0-226-04408-4
3. New World Records, Liner Notes: Musica Elettronica Viva (1967–2007) MEV 40 80675-2 (4CDs)
4. University of California, San Diego, Department of Music, Carol Plantamura