Luthien Brackett (Mezzo-soprano)

Born: April 1976 - San Diego, California, USA

The American mezzo-soprano, Luthien Brackett, was born to parents who loved to read, and was was named for the character of the elf princess Lùthien Tinùviel in J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium. According to her mother and father, at the age of two, she clambered up onto the table during a dinner party and sang "You Light Up My Life" from start to finish with perfect pitch. That was probably her first public performance. She received her training at Westminster Choir College, and she lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Praised by the press for her “easy, appealing alto” and “silky tone among all registers,” Luthien Brackett is specializing in music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Her most recent solo appearances include J.S. Bach's St. John Passion (BWV 245) with Music in the Somerset Hills alongside Julianne Baird, Charpentier's Vespers for the Blessed Virgin with TENET's Green Mountain Project, George Frideric Handel’s Messiah with the Trinity Wall Street Choir and Trinity Baroque Orchestra, J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) with Princeton Pro Musica and the Chorus of Westerly, Arvo Pärt’s Passio with TENET for Carnegie Hall's ‘collected stories’ Festival, and W.A. Mozart's Requiem with The Clarion Society. Regional opera credits include G.F. Handel's Semele with Music in the Somerset Hills, W.A. Mozart’s Il Sogno di Scipione with Gotham Chamber Opera, and numerous productions with Spoleto Festival, USA. She is featured on the Trinity Wall Street Choir's anthology of the Complete Haydn Masses (Naxos), as well as its GRAMMY-nominated recording of G.F. Handel’s Israel in Egypt (Musica Omnia). In great demand as an ensemble performer, she is a member of the Trinity Wall Street Choir, and appears regularly with some of the country's preeminent vocal groups, including The Antioch Chamber Ensemble, TENET, Vox, Voices of Ascension, Pomerium, The Clarion Society, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and Seraphic Fire.

Also sought-after as a performer of new music, Luthien Brackett was one of eight soloists who gave the world premiere performance and recording of Ralf Yusuf Gawlick's Missa Gentis Humanae in Boston in 2014. In May of that year, she sang in the USA premiere of Pablo Ortiz's chamber opera Gallos y huesos, a production of the Americas Society and Centro de Experimentación del Teatro Colón. With the Trinity Wall Street Choir and the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Luthien participated in the New York premiere of Julia Wolfe's GRAMMY-nominated and Pulitzer Prize-winning piece, Anthracite Fields, as part of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra's inaugural Biennial Festival. In the coming year, Luthien will maintain a vigorous concert schedule with engagements across the USA and abroad.

Sources:
Luthien Brackett Website
Photos 00-01: © Scott Townell; Photos 02-05: © Joshua South
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (January 2016)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Jeffrey Grossman

Alto

Member of TENET:
[V-3] (2017, Video): BWV 245 [solo]

Jeffrey Grossman

Alto

With Impromptu Bach Ensemble:
[V-2] (Video, 2017): BWV 232 [solo]

Donald Meineke

Alto

Member of Bach Choir of Holy Trinity:
[C-1] (2014, Video): BWV 115

Stephen Sands

Alto

Member of Antioch Chamber Ensemble:
C-1 (2015, Video), BWV 21, BWV 243a
V-1 (2015, Video): BWV 245

Julian Wachner

Alto

Bach at One [BO-36] (2015, Video): BWV 89 [Guest Conductor: Grant Gershon]
Bach at One [BO-39] (2015, Video): BWV 137, BWV 197
Bach at One [BO-43] (2015, Video): BWV 28
Bach at One [BO-45] (2015, Video): BWV 39
Bach at One [BO-49] (2015, Video): BWV 121
Bach at One [BO-51] (2016, Video): BWV 167
Bach at One [BO-52] (2016, Video): BWV 175
Bach at One [BO-53] (2016, Video): BWV 148
Bach at One [BO-55] (2016, Video): BWV 174
Bach at One [BO-58] (2016, Video): BWV 187
Bach at One [BO-59] (2016, Video): BWV 184
Bach at One [BO-61] (2016, Video): BWV 172, BWV 195
Bach at One [BO-64] (2016, Video): BWV 35
Bach at One [SA-2] (2018, Video): BWV 131, BWV 61
Bach at One [BO-79] (2018, Video): BWV 12, BWV 70
Bach at One [BO-80] (2018, Video): BWV 21, BWV 196
Bach at One [BO-83] (2018, Video): BWV 79, BWV 117

Franz Welser-Möst

Alto

Member of Seraphic Fire (Director: Patrick Dupré Quigley):
[CR-34] (2017, Audio): BWV 34

Links to other Sites

Luthien Brackett - Mezzo-soprano (Official Website)
Luthien Brackett - Mezzo-Soprano on Facebook