“Images of heaven came to mind as she sang...Antoni’s voice was just beautiful as she carried each note."
- David Alvarez, Online Press
Filipina-Spanish coloratura, Antoni Mendezona, has been singled out for her captivating and dynamic stage presence and musicality. Nicknamed by Dicapo Opera in New York as the “eleventh hour”, Antoni has stepped in twice at the last minute for two important debuts of American operas. She stepped in with just one rehearsal to perform the international debut of Tobias Picker’s Emmeline as Sophie with Dicapo Opera as a part of the Mezzo Television Festival in Szeged, Hungary. The performance was broadcasted live on Mezzo television throughout 36 different countries in Europe and South America. Antoni also stepped in, informed only hours before curtain, to sing the role of Veronique in the New York City premier of Thomas Pasatieri's The Hotel Casablanca also at Dicapo Opera. This garnered rave reviews from the New York Times saying “Antoni Mendezona, a last-minute substitute as the hotel clerk Veronique, stole scenes with her pealing voice and bubbly personality”.
Her other operatic roles include First Lady from Die Zauberflöte, Amore in L'incoronazione di Poppea, Zerlina from Don Giovanni, Lolo from The Merry Widow, Le Rossignol from L’enfant et les Sortilèges, Flora from The Turn of the Screw with Sacramento Opera, Frasquita from Carmen with Connecticut Grand Opera and the Bar Harbour Music Festival, and Elisa from Il Re Pastore. Most recently she had the pleasure of workshopping La Princessa from Montsalvatge's El Gato con Botas with Gotham Chamber Opera in New York City with renowned director Moises Kaufman. She returned to Sacramento Opera this past fall as Dorinda in Handel's Orlando.
In addition to her operatic performance, Ms. Mendezona has been featured as the Youth soloist with the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra in Mendelssohn's Elijah, the Soprano soloist in the Fauré Requiem with the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra and a soloist for the Bach Cantata BWV 80 Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott. Antoni also sang as the soprano soloist in Bach's St. John Passion and the Ascension Oratorio with Maestro T. Herbert Dimmock as part of the prestigious Bach Concert Series in Baltimore, MD. She sang again with the Sacramento Choral Society Allegri's Miserere Mei Deus and the Mozart Vespers as part of their Stained Glass Concert Series last season. She recently toured the Philippines, particularly Cebu City and Cagayan de Oro, collaborating with local and international musicians, as well as conducted masterclasses in an effort to introduce and nurture classical music.
As a participant in competition, Antoni has earned first place in the SJNATS district competition, second in the Fresno Young Vocalist Awards, first in the Mu Phi Epsilon Sacramento Chapter Scholarship, was a finalist for the Stewart Brady Competition, third in the San Jose Music Club Scholarship, was the recipient of the Young Artist Incentive Award from West Bay Opera’s Henry and Maria Holt Competition, won the Mu Phi Epsilon Graduate Study Award and most recently won the Little Italy Merchants Association Honorable Mention award.
