Aliana de la GuardiaIt’s rare, these days, for a young singer to choose sophisticated musicality over the pop-trashy trappings of American Idol. Soprano Aliana de la Guardia’s powerful pipes and dedication to contemporary classical music make her a refreshingly anomalous player on the Boston music scene.De la Guardia, 25, is the general manager and principal soprano of Guerilla Opera, a chamber opera ensemble that performs 21st-century works composed specifically for the group (such as their acclaimed production of Boston composer Andy Vores’s chilling operatic adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit). A first-generation Cuban-American who grew up in New Jersey, de la Guardia came to Boston in 2001 to earn first her Bachelors and then her Masters of Music from the Boston Conservatory, where her participation in the premiere of a work by a student composer uncovered a love of contemporary classical music.Unlike most classical sopranos, de la Guardia has the artistically enviable task of originating roles, as opposed to attempting to breathe fresh life into characters that have been portrayed over and over and over again. “These are works that are yours, and you create them as part of an artistic process,” she says.You can soon catch de la Guardia singing the title role in Guerilla Opera’s upcoming production of Rumpelstiltskin. As if her work with that ensemble wasn’t enough to keep the stunning singer busy, she’s also a member of the Boston Stage Company; plus, she has been getting global attention for her interpretation of György Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments, which she recently performed on the WGBH/BBC-produced podcast World Books with violinist Gabriela Diaz of the Ludovico Ensemble. She’s even got a solo CD in the works. Move over, pop princesses — this prima donna is headed for the top.
