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Erica Brookhyser
Erica Brookhyser, mezzo-soprano
*Starring as Brangaene on January 31st, 2010 with the Debut Orchestra
Hailed by Opera News for her “vivid, rich voice,” and by The Boston Globe for her “radiant stage presence and exquisite musicality,” mezzo-soprano, Erica Brookhyser is rapidly garnering the attention of audiences and critics nationwide. Ms. Brookhyser’s operatic appearances include the title role in Cendrillon with Central City Opera, Waltraute in Die Walküre with Los Angeles Opera, Tisbe in La Cenerentola with Utah Opera, and Myrtale in Thaïs with Boston Lyric Opera. As a concert soloist she has performed with the Utah Symphony and Boston Symphony orchestras in repertoire ranging from Handel’s Messiah to Schoenberg’s Moses und Aron. In addition to her concert and stage work, Ms. Brookhyser has been a featured performer on the Marilyn Horne Foundation’s art song program, The Song Continues at Carnegie Hall, has collaborated with the Mark Morris Dance Group, and has premiered numerous chamber works by living composers. Ms. Brookhyser’s future engagements include Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde with the Debut Orchestra of Beverly Hills, and the title role in Carmen and Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro with Staatstheater Darmstadt. A native of Oregon, Ms. Brookhyser is currently in residence at Los Angeles Opera as a Domingo-Thornton Young Artist, where she will be performing in the up-coming productions of Die Gezeichneten and Die Walküre.
Ms. Brookhyser will be spending a second year in residence at the Los Angeles Opera as a Domingo Thornton Young Artist. There she will be covering several roles throughout the 2009-2010 season including Andronico and Irene in Tamerlano, as well as Wellgunde in Götterdämmerung and Das Rheingold. She will also be performing the roles of Mother in Die Gezeichneten and Waltraute in Die Walküre both under the baton of James Conlon. Ms. Brookhyser will also be singing with the esteemed youth Debut Orchestra as Brangäne in Act II of Tristan und Isolde.
She spent her 2008-2009 season in residence at the Los Angeles Opera as a Domingo-Thornton Young Artist. Her roles there included Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Mercedes in the student performances of Carmen, Waltraute in Die Walküre, and Annina in La Traviata. In addition to her operatic engagements, she performed a concert of Baroque music as part of the Gordon Getty Concert series at The Getty Museum, and made her debut with the Newport Symphony Orchestra in Newport, Oregon singing selections from Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs.
In 2007-2008, Ms. Brookhyser’s created the role of Therese in the world premier production of The Inman Diaries by Thomas Oboe Lee. At the beginning of 2008, Ms. Brookhyser became a young artist in the Utah Opera Studio Program. As a studio artist, she made her Utah Symphony debut as the Alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah. With Utah Opera she played the role of Tisbe in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, and covered Angelina in the same opera, as well as the role of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. During the summer, she was engaged as an Apprentice with Santa Fe Opera where she performed the final scene from Carmen in the Apprentice Showcase Scenes Concert.
In the 2006-2007 season, Ms. Brookhyser performed under the baton of James Levine in the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s concert of Schönberg’s Moses und Aron. Under Maestro Keith Lockhart, she sang Kate Pinkerton in Boston Lyric Opera’s Madama Butterfly directed by the late Colin Graham. She also sang Rosina in The Barber of Seville with the touring company, Opera New England, and was an Apprentice Artist at the Central City Opera Young Artist Program, where she performed Flora in La Traviata, and the role of Cendrillon in the family performance of Cendrillon.
During the 2005-2006 season, Ms. Brookhyser made her first appearance at Carnegie Hall as a featured performer in the Marilyn Horne Foundation program The Song Continues… in Zankel Hall. She made her professional debut with Boston Lyric Opera as Myrtale in Thaïs conducted by Steuart Bedford and directed by Renaud Doucet. That same season, Ms. Brookhyer was a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, where she sang in a collaboration with the Mark Morris Dance Group.
In addition to her stage work, Ms. Brookhyser is an avid concert soloist. Her “full, secure, and attractive mezzo” makes her an ideal alto for Baroque oratorio. Her performances include works by Bach including the B minor Mass, Easter Oratorio, Ascension Oratorio, as well as works by Schütz, Haydn, Handel and Monteverdi. Committed to performing the music of today, Ms. Brookhyser has presented many world and regional premiers of works by Sophia Gubaidulina, Bill Geha, Keith Kirchoff, and Matthew Svoboda.
Ms. Brookhyser’s achievements include Semi-finalist at the Metropolitan Opera Auditions (NYC), First Place at the Northwest Regional Met Auditions (Seattle), Finalist in the MacAllister Awards (Chicago), recipient of the John Moriarty Presidential Scholarship, recipient of the Boston Lyric Opera’s Shrestinian Award for Excellence, winner of the E. Atwill Gilman Award at Central City Opera, winner of the Pasadena Opera Guild Award and recipient of the Agnes M. Canning Award at Santa Fe Opera. Ms. Brookhyser is a graduate of New England Conservatory and the University of Oregon. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, pianist/composer Keith Kirchoff.