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Born in Cumaná, Venezuela, American soprano Tania Arazi Coambs is a passionate and versatile performer, stage director, and writer. Recognized for her “searing and intense acting and singing”, Tania was a recipient of the American Prize Chicago Music Theater Award and made her début at Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall singing the music of Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein . She has appeared internationally at the Shaw Theatre in London; St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome; the Urbania City Theater in Italy; the Errol Hill Theater in Bridgetown, Barbados; Muson Centre in Lagos, Nigeria; and with the Amadeus Opern Ensemble in Salzburg, Austria. She has also performed with the Allerton Music Barn Festival, Opera Venezuela, the Pittsburgh Savoyards, the Festival of Women Composers, Station Theatre, Illinois Opera Theater, and with the Danville Symphony Orchestra.
Previous roles include Francesca in The Bridges of Madison County, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Gretel in Hansel und Gretel, Aldonza in The Man of La Mancha, Kate in Human Terrain, Aline in The Sorcerer, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Linfea in La Calisto, Arsena in Der Zigeunerbaron, Edith in The Pirates of Penzance, Annie in The Game of Love, Wren in A Body of Water, Nurse Ruth Kelley in Harvey, Cookie in Talk Opera, and Mrs. Webb in Our Town, as well as originating the role of Dr. Vivian Watson in an international tour to Barbados, England, and Nigeria of the play Preemptive. With her strong interest in Spanish music and art song, as well as in jazz, French cabaret, and music theatre, she has performed in concert with the Danville Symphony Orchestra, and with groups such as the Tania Arazi Coambs Trio, the George Turner Trio, Tango Espejo, Tempest Performers, as well as presented recitals at the Mid-America Guitar Festival, the Southern Illinois Music Festival, and Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. As a director of opera, plays, and musical theatre, Tania's most recent directing project was her original play, Stoplight, which was awarded Best Arts of 2022 by Smile Politely. Other directing highlights include her award-winning production of The Tender Land for Indiana University of Pennsylvania; the first regional production of Claire van Kampen's Farinelli and the King; scenes from her original opera, Catatumbo (based on her own storyline and libretto and composed by Griffin Candey); a devised theatre collaboration entitled Scenes From Our Past.; as well as productions of Berstein's Trouble in Tahiti, Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, Don Giovanni, Stop Kiss, Brecht's The Informer, Brundibár, Signor Deluso, Feeding the Moonfish, and A Canoe on the Lake. As a director and an assistant director, she has worked with Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, DiCapo Opera, the Southern Illinois Music Festival, New Opera St. Louis, the Station Theatre, Armory Free Theatre, Parkland College Theater, and CU Theatre Company. She previously served as the Producer/Director of Opera/Music Theater at Indiana University of Pennsylvania where she directed the main stage opera productions, as well as directed several programs of musical theatre and operatic scenes. From 2015-2016, she was a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation Observership Class. Tania's scholarship has also recently received national recognition -- her dissertation entitled "Redefining America Through Opera: Representation of Latin/o Americans and a New Tradition" was selected as winner of the 2018-2020 Biennial National Opera Association (NOA) Dissertation Competition. Tania holds a doctorate in Vocal Performance and Literature with a concentration in Stage Direction from the University of Illinois, a Master's in Opera / Music Theatre with a concentration in Stage Direction from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and a Bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Illinois. She was previously a member of the Beth Morrison Projects Producer Academy where she is took intensive courses in Fundraising, Budgeting, and Touring. |