Soprano Mara Bonde has thrilled audiences in diverse venues with her electric stage presence and musical artistry. Her voice has been described as having "sweet purity of tone" (Boston Herald) and "ravishing" (The Boston Globe). Equally at home in both classical and popular styles, Mara is no stranger to the world of symphony pops. She has been the guest artist for "Holiday Pops" concerts with the Boston Pops, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Naples Philharmonic, and with the Baton Rouge, Lansing, New Haven, Syracuse, and Charlotte Symphony Orchestras.
Other orchestral engagements have taken her to the South Florida, Utah, San Diego, Stamford, Ridgefield, Waterbury, Cape, Cape Ann, Melrose, Quincy and Nashua Symphony Orchestras, the Handel & Haydn Society, and Boston Baroque.
Her stage repertoire includes both opera and classic music theater roles; some favorites are the title role in "The Merry Widow" (Imperial Symphony Orchestra), Second Lady in "Magic Flute" (Boston Baroque), Sarah Brown in "Guys & Dolls" (Reagle Music Theatre & Greater Lowell Music Theater), Thea in "Fiorello!" and Marian in "The Music Man" (Greater Lowell Music Theater), Adina in L'elisir d'amore (Sarasota Opera), Mrs. Page in "Sir John in Love" (Odyssey Opera), Lilli Vanessi/Kate in "Kiss me Kate" (Commonwealth Opera), and Marietta in "Naughty Marietta" (Light Opera Oklahoma).
Mara has also graced the stages of Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Omaha, Glimmerglass Opera, Utah Opera, Light Opera Oklahoma, Opera Company of North Carolina and the Artist Series of Sarasota in works ranging from Mozart to Mollicone, and Sullivan to Sondheim.
Mara also performs with Boston Musical Theater (specializing in the "Great American Songbook") and has toured with the ensemble to South Korea, Russia, and Belgium. A very special recording project is "Sound Spectrum" (Navona Records) featuring Mara collaborating with her father, composer and pianist Allen Bonde. Mara was a National Semi-Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (first place winner Rocky Mountain Region) and the first prize winner in the Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship Awards. She has also received finalist awards from the Liederkranz Foundation, the Oratorio Society of New York, Connecticut Opera Guild, and the Jensen Foundation.