Marianne Cornetti

Cornetti grew up in Cabot, Pennsylvania, a town north of Pittsburgh, to Irish mother and Italian father.[1] Her mother's family had deep musical roots though none of them were formally trained.[2][3] Her talent was discovered at the age of 12, when she was invited to sing a solo in "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing".[2] She then successfully auditioned into the choir of St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Herman,[4] performing as a soloist, and then had four years of private voice lessons before attending college.[2] After graduating from Knoch High School in 1981,[4] she was enrolled into the Manhattan School of Music. Due to poor experience she transferred to College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati.[2] A thyroid problem then developed in her sophomore year,[3] forcing her to suspend her studies. After a year's treatment she lost her confidence and decided not to return at the last moment.[2]

Considering her strengths in music and human services, she switched major into speech pathology and attended Penn State University. Disliking the academic subjects, she transferred one year later to Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, which was reputed in her field of studies.[2] The administrator, considering her credits in music, advised her to finish the degree and suggested that she could do double major; it turned out that it was a mistake and that she had to choose one.[2] She had started to take voice lessons and regained the passion but yet made a definite choice. After two months, she admitted her concern to her voice teacher Maja Novich, a dramatic soprano, who in turn told her, "If you don't sing, it will haunt you for the rest of your life."[1][3] She had committed to music ever since.[2]

After her studies, Cornetti spent three years in the Young Artists Program of Pittsburgh Opera, where she made her first stage appearance as a Maid in Strauss' Elektra.[2] She made her Metropolitan Opera debut at the end of 1993, as the Russian Nanny in Death in Venice.[1] She sang her first major role in 1995 in Atlanta, where she was originally going to sing Fenena in Nabucco but switched instead to Azucena in Il trovatore. As a result of vocal growth, she started to be engaged in other bigger roles such as Amneris in Aida in other houses,[2] and began further studies with Dodi Protero in New York to stabilize the technique.[1] She finally left the Met in 1998 after five years of exclusively small roles, the last being Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria rusticana.[2]

Cornetti was appointed Artistic Director of Pittsburgh Festival Opera in November 2019.[5] She is also on the Voice Faculty at Carnegie Mellon University.[6]

Cornetti lives in Pittsburgh. She formerly resided in New Kensington for nine years.[4]

• Official website
• Marianne Cornetti at Athlone Artists
• "BWW Interview: Mezzo-Soprano Marianne Cornetti Swings for the Fences". BroadwayWorld (Interview). Interviewed by Erica Miner. 2017-01-31.