Monica Yunus (born 1979) is an American operatic soprano who has performed with many opera companies and music ensembles. She is the daughter of Bangladeshi social entrepreneur, banker, economist Muhammad Yunus. About her singing quality reviewers from US dailies, The New York Times, the Charleston City Paper and the Palm Beach Daily News have described her voice as "especially winning", "utterly captivating" and "a voice destined for super-stardom" respectively. Her voice's performance range lies from a low A (A3) to a high F (F6). She performed regularly at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 2003-2014; appearing in several broadcasts of Metropolitan Opera Live in HD.
Early life and education
Monica Yunus was born in 1979 in Chittagong, Bangladesh to Muhammad Yunus, an economist and his then wife, Vera Forostenko, the daughter of Russian immigrants to Trenton, New Jersey. Monika has one younger half-sister, Dina Yunus. Yunus' parents met in 1967 while attending Vanderbilt University. They were married in 1970. Yunus' parents' marriage ended within months of her birth, and Forostenko returned with Monica to the United States to live with her parents, claiming that Bangladesh was not a good place to raise a baby.
Yunus grew up in the home of her Russian grandparents in New Jersey where she learned to speak and write Russian and other Slavic languages as well as English. Yunus also speaks and writes fluently in Italian, Spanish, German, and French. Yunus' grandmother was highly influential in encouraging her interest in singing. At a very early age, Yunus' grandmother began taking her to sing in the choir at their Russian Orthodox Church, a choir Yunus would sing with throughout her entire childhood. It was while singing in this church choir that Yunus first fell in love with classical music.
At the age of eleven, Yunus' mother helped her begin studying voice formally through lessons. Shortly thereafter, Yunus became a member of the Metropolitan Opera's Children's Chorus for a number of years. At 13, Monica was accepted to the prestigious Tanglewood Music Center in Massachusetts, and this is where she first became interested in becoming a professional opera singer. Beginning at the age of 15, Yunus spent five summers at the Aspen Music Festival honing her craft with some of the world's best music teachers. While at Aspen, Yunus recorded and performed the role of Laurie in the world premiere of Copland's The Tender Land Suite, in which she can be heard on the KOCH International label.
In 1997, after attending the prestigious Lawrenceville School, Yunus entered the Juilliard School from which she graduated four years later with a Bachelor's in Vocal Performance. During this time Yunus sang in several professional operas (see below) and was a member of Berkshire Opera's Young Artist Program. She also studied at the Bay Area Summer Opera Theatre Institute in the summer of 2000. Yunus remained at Juilliard for graduate studies and earned a master's degree in Vocal Performance in 2002. While in graduate school at Juilliard, Yunus was a member of Pittsburgh Opera's Young Artist Program and she performed the role of Mrs. Hayes in Susannah at the Juilliard Opera Center.
Career
In 1999, Yunus made her professional opera debut at an unusually young age with Palm Beach Opera in the role of Countess Olga in Umberto Giordano's Fedora after winning the Palm Beach Opera Competition that same year. Yunus also took first place at the Florida Grand Opera Competition and was awarded the Bori Grant For Study Abroad that year.
In 2000, Yunus returned to Palm Beach Opera to perform the role of Oscar in Un ballo in maschera opposite noted singers Richard Leech and Aprile Millo. She also was a finalist in the Lotte Lenya Competition.
In 2001, Yunus sang the role of Nanetta in Falstaff in her debut with Amato Opera.
In the 2002–2003 season, Yunus made her debut with Nashville Opera as Gretel in Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel, her debut with Virginia Opera as Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, and performed the role of Walter in La Wally at Alice Tully Hall with Teatro Grattacielo. She also performed the roles of Servilia in Mozart's La clemenza di Tito and Polly in Die Dreigroschenoper with Pittsburgh Opera as part of her internship there. Yunus was also awarded a career grant from the Lee Schaenen Foundation in 2002.