Girls of Summer

ZULIMAR LÓPEZ-HERNÁNDEZ, Zerlina at Des Moines Metro Opera, talks to TRISTAN KRAFT about Mozart and other matters.

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Zulimar López-Hernández, who sings Zerlina in Des Moines Metro Opera’s Don Giovanni this summer, has a personality that seems ideally suited to the role: in conversation, one first notices her youthful enthusiasm, then her intelligence, then her pragmatism. The soprano only started taking voice lessons in college, where she studied to be a dietician before switching degrees to music. “At least I always try to take care of myself and eat well,” she jokes. Since then, she has made signature roles out of Despina in Così Fan Tutte (which she covered for New York City Opera in March 2012) and Norina in Don Pasquale (which she sang at DMMO last summer).

Click here to read Zulimar’s complete feature at www.operanews.com