Reviews

Dubenion-Smith has a fluid but precise grasp of Latin diction and a keen sense of dynamic shading, and her performance had a power and authority that – paradoxically – seemed just right for her part as Humility.

-James Stevenson, Radar Review, March 2005

Kristen Dubenion-Smith had fine moments – as Hecuba, Queen of Troy.

-Charles T. Downey, Ionarts, June 2006

If we throw in mezzo-soprano Kristen Dubenion-Smith (Hecuba in La Didone) as the dancing bear, we get the full five-part chorus that Handel used.  The bear was funny in her rotund costume, whiskers and glasses.

-Charles T. Downey, Ionarts, Jan 2007

“….A mezzo-soprano with a lilting voice…”

-Rebecca Corbett, New York Times, August, 2007

The orchestra was drawn from leading period-instrument performers from around the United States, including concertmaster Julie Andrijeski. Her solo with the admirable alto Kristen Dubenion-Smith in an aria in the third cantata was richly soulful and technically admirable.

Dubenion-Smith was yet another strong soloist, with a warm alto sound and sure feeling for line and the way it illuminates words.

-Mark Kanny, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Dec 2007

“Sleep, my most beloved,” sung with sweet clarity by alto Kristen Dubenion-Smith and enhanced by oboe’s d’amore and oboes da caccia, was particularly lovely.

-Jane Vranish, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec 2007

Dubenion-Smith, a real alto possessed of a lovely low range, sang bass, sometimes transposed and sometimes at pitch.

-Anna Carol Dudley, San Francisco Classical Voice Magazine, Dec 2009