Article (Concert Review): Ensemble premieres an impressive piece
David Weininger, The Boston Globe, 4/6/2004

Article (CD Reviews): A lovely program (with a message) from Massachusetts
Frank Behrens, Showcase Magazine, 11/6/2003

Article (Review): Soprano soars in her first 'Butterfly',
Richard Dyer, Boston Globe, 1/14/2003

Article: Maria Ferrante's discoveries,
Richard Duckett, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, 10/13/2002

Article (CD Release): Our hills come alive with the songs of Maria,
Susan Dewey, Worcester Magazine, 12/16/1998

Article (Concert Review)  Vivaldi soloists a perfect balance...
After the intermission, the next two pieces clearly made up the summit of the evening’s achievements. Vivaldi’s setting of the 127th Psalm, “Nisi Dominus,” featured soprano Maria Ferrante, together with [Mela] Tenenbaum, there was a splendid blend between Ferrante’s singing and Tenenbaum’s playing: supple, reverential and enormously moving and powerful — in the words of the psalm itself, “arrows in the hand of the mighty.” Gorgeous and transcendent Vivaldi.

John Zeugner, Telegram & Gazette, November 2007

Article (Concert Review) On the Mohawk Trail, a modest chamber music festival that thinks big...Maria Ferrante (soprano)... gave a heartfelt and chillingly beautiful performance of "Let Evening Come." The death-shadowed title poem by Kenyon brims with an ambivalent lyricism, at once reveling in the glorious particulars of a late afternoon in the countryside while preaching a calm acceptance of the arrival of night. Bolcom's music for the earlier poems is full of eruptive viola lines and giant block chords in the piano, but this final poem is set off with pure, luminous vocal lines that seem to drift up high above the fray. Ferrante sang with a focused tone, and a supremely sensitive delivery. The final line lofted quietly over a gently rocking figure in the viola: "God does not leave us comfortless, so let evening come."

Jeremy Eichler, The Boston Globe, July 2007

“Soprano soars in her first ‘Butterfly’. Newton – Maria Ferrante broke my heart Sunday night. Or, through her, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly did. The soprano from Worcester sang the part for the first time in a concert performance with the Newton Symphony. Her voice is….ideal for the character of the trusting little geisha. She boasts a plausible physical appearance, and she’s a true singing actress – her eyes and hands and body know how to sing, and with her voice she can act. Ferrante works in the great Italian tradition of this role, singing off the words and making every phrase meaningful. Ferrante doesn’t imitate anybody but finds the truth of each utterance within herself, from the childlike prattle of the beginning, through the torrential love music, into the growth of a woman who realizes that it is better to die with honor than to live without. The combination of delicacy and intensity she brought to many phrases brought tears to my eyes … in her honesty, imagination, and investment, she was infinitely superior to the last Butterfly I saw at the Met…"

Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe

“Ferrante broke my heart Sunday night…the soprano from Worcester…works in the great Italian tradition” Maria Ferrante’s soprano shone!”

Richard Buell, The Boston Globe

“Bachianas Brasileiras, sing with sweetness and oxygenated clarify by Maria Ferrante.”

Debra Cash, The Boston Globe

“Soprano Maria Ferrante gave a beautifully focused performance…”

Joan Reinthaler, The Washington Post

“Maria Ferrante, playing the coloratura role of Oscar, was perfect, I doubt if any company anywhere could find one better suited to sing this crucial role, she sang beautifully.”

The Reading Eagle, Pennsylvania

“There was a full voiced and appealing Pamina from Ferrante…” (1997) “Ferrante has a voice and presence…she knows the style (she worked on Liu with both Correli and Albanese); there were…beautiful things in her performance, like the messa di voce at the end of her first aria, a far lovelier effect than the usual cascade of sobs.” (1998)

Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe

“Ferrante opened with a beguiling performance of the great Purcell song ‘Music for a while.’ Her pure tone and lovely diction cast a spell…[she] handled the wide tessitura, complex lines and German diction [of Berg’s ‘Seven Early Songs’] with ease, matched by Mr. Kalish’s accomplished pianism. However, she positively glowed in … [Rossini’s] ‘Serate Musicale.’ The ornate style was totally hers, with light fioratura contrasting with a warm, mezzo quality. She looked, acted, and sounded the part of a soubrette-diva, and the large audience responded with a standing ovation.”
Alice Parker, Shelbourne Falls and West County News

“Rising above this festive finery, her agile, brilliant singing and sincere, winning performance captivating the ears and hearts of all…From [her first solemn notes in Schubert’s ‘Romanze’ through the light-hearted yet daunting passagework of ‘Laughing Song’ – complete with the high D and raised eyebrow – to the joyful roulades closing the latter’s ‘Voices of Spring,’ the young soprano’s timbral facility, sweetly commanding tone and engaging expressiveness were the highlight of the evening.”

Clifton J. Noble, Jr., Springfield Union-News

“[Schubert’s] ‘Romanze’ introduced us to Ferrante’s extraordinary soprano, her highly disciplined and tightly accurate voice delivering poignant emotion. The emotional range of her interpretation was also seen in her tasteful physical movements and countenance, enlivening and fulfilling the music. Ferrante’s fluid voice showed great range and an almost incredible accuracy…Her ending was positively virtuosic, leaving the already highly impressed audience thrilled. A word to music lovers – Ferrante teaches at Clark University and performs in the area. Keep your ears open.” (1997)

Thomas W. Hutcheson, Greenfield Recorder

“Lovely, slim Maria Ferrante sang the slave girl Liu … with warm tones, delicate high notes, and emotional urgency. She moves like a dancer …”

Lloyd Schwartz, May 1998, Boston Phoenix

“…the principal joy of his production was…most especially Maria Ferrante as Rosalinda… [she] has a big supple voice and vivacious stage manner. Her broadly comic, lively acting made [her] the appealing center…This was a powerful and impressive performance.” (1997) “[She] triumphed as the flamboyant Rosalinda in…’Die Fledermaus’ and repeated her success in the quite different role of Mimi. Her large bright voice easily and accurately filled the house.” (1998)

Alice Fuld, Keene Sentinel

“Ferrante, gave a strong performance as a frail Mimi, and displayed some acting talent as well.” (1996) “… as Hanne, Ferrante brought sparkle and verve to the roll with a bright, clear, youthful sound, a quality that’s ideal for Haydn and Mozart. She was a delight in the famous Spinning Song of the Winter section, and she made the somewhat trite music of this tale of the country maid most appealing with her spunk …Hanne was especially enchanting.” (1996)

Myles Tronic, The Worcester Phoenix

“Ferrante immediately established herself as an excellent interpreter of the intent of the given work being performed. She complements her inherently lovely soprano voice with a precise articulation and a clear commitment…her rendition of the demanding aria has authority and power.” (1995) “[Her] singing is superb. Maria Ferrante as the ghostly Lily has a beautiful voice that put every number she appeared into a dimension all its own.” (1997)

Richard Duckett, Worcester Telegram and Gazette

“In the musical, Lily is … gloriously sung by Ferrante, even behind a scrim she outcharms everyone else in the cast. She is wonderful and someone should find a suitable production for her at once.”

Ken Harpe, Worcester Magazine

“… her performance style was so very engaging; her hands, face and body proved as expressive as her vocal cords….Ms. Ferrante dramatically yet flirtatiously delivered two operettas songs by Franz Lehar, both of which showed her gorgeous high voice off to great effect.” (1997)

T. Weisblat, Shelburne Falls and West County News