How to Use contralto in a Sentence

contralto

noun
  • Singing soulfully but very quietly at first, her rich contralto builds in perfect sync with the stately tempo.
    — Bill Adler, Smithsonian Magazine, 2021-12-06
  • Roberts's contralto voice grounds a Lina set adrift in a confusing universe of puppets and apparitions.
    — Irene Hsiao, Chicago Reader, 2018-05-30
  • The quiet storm of Sade’s contralto fills the room—a sign that Kris Jenner has, at least for the moment, control of the playlist.
    — Jonathan Van Meter, WSJ, 2021-03-23
  • Apple, with her singular smoky contralto, modelled the complex emotions of the line for Amber, warming her up to record.
    — Mick Stevens, The New Yorker, 2021-08-12
  • Ms. Amereau is herself something of a welcome throwback at a time when countertenors have all but displaced contraltos in early music.
    — James R. Oestreich, New York Times, 2017-04-14
  • Vocally, the range of Frida goes from extremely low, contralto-land to soprano-land.
    — Janelle Gelfand, Cincinnati.com, 2017-06-22
  • Her contralto voice — creamy and rich like a spoonful of gelato — summons the intense feelings of adolescence through its calm yet fomenting presence.
    — Erin Osmon, Los Angeles Times, 2022-12-01
  • Which leads to the following question: What actress can nail Holmes’s contralto and Steve Jobs cosplay?
    — Chris Murphy, Vulture, 2021-02-18
  • Sierra is a mezzo-soprano or mezzo, which is a type of classical female singing voice with a vocal range that lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types.
    — Chuck Fieldman, chicagotribune.com, 2021-06-14
  • Her movements still retain the fluid lines of a dancer, and her voice has matured into a craggy contralto that penetrates the audio haze of a busy bar, but never farther than a few feet.
    — Jonathan Kauffman, San Francisco Chronicle, 2017-11-01
  • At 42, the contralto opera singer had performed to acclaim throughout the United States and Europe.
    — Jackie Mansky, Smithsonian, 2017-10-11
  • Because Batton is a mezzo-soprano and contralto, her roles aren’t limited to younger character roles.
    — Elizabeth Kramer, The Courier-Journal, 2017-09-06
  • Doris Day was the model of femininity, not a woman with long black hair, a big nose and an androgynous, almost manly contralto voice.
    — Rob Tannenbaum, Billboard, 2017-05-18
  • The singer-songwriter’s distinctive contralto voice is still intact — these days sounding deeper, grittier.
    — Michael James Rocha, sandiegouniontribune.com, 2017-07-19
  • Joe, for example, is described as heavily breathing, and so the sound of breath became a jumping-off point for my use of woodwind instruments like the contralto clarinet and the flute.
    — Paige Hymson, latimes.com, 2019-06-25
  • Afrofuturist image is as integral to her character as her sultry contralto and subversive stage presence.
    — Lauren Valenti, Vogue, 2021-05-19
  • From Natalie’s powerful contralto to the lush orchestrations to the ethereal piano, this is a work of consummate songcraft.
    — Daniel De Visé, SPIN, 2022-09-13
  • Survivors include his daughter, contralto Sonya Alexandra Knussen of Baltimore; a brother; and a sister.
    — Harrison Smith, Washington Post, 2018-07-12
  • Caroline Unger, the contralto at the premiere, gets credit for turning the deaf Beethoven toward the wildly applauding audience, which gave five standing ovations.
    — Lawrence Toppman, charlotteobserver, 2017-09-21
  • Back in the early 1900s, British contralto and recording artist Ruby Helder expressed a desire to sing operatic tenor roles.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 2023-02-05
  • In this documentary, director Rita Coburn salutes the famed contralto and international star who broke through racial barriers and became an icon in the civil rights movement.
    — Craig D Lindsey, Chron, 2022-11-11
  • The two characters are each embodied by two onstage singers (the woman by a soprano and a contralto, and the man by a baritone and a countertenor), as well as by prerecorded alto and tenor parts and an offstage chorus of sixteen voices.
    — Matthew Aucoin, The New York Review of Books, 2019-12-07
  • As a contralto, Anderson’s repertoire included classical music, popular songs, and spirituals.
    — Caroline Rogers, Southern Living, 2020-05-30
  • Megan Esther Grey, a doctoral student with a performance career already underway, blended the best of both mezzo and contralto voices in red-hot contributions as Iago’s wife, Emilia.
    — Dallas News, 2022-02-28

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'contralto.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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