The American mezzo-soprano, Elisa Sutherland, graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Creative Writing (2007-2012), a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Opera (2007-2012), and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Opera (2012-2014). In addition to winning the Philadelphia District of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions in 2015, she is the 2014 winner of the Lynne Harvey Cooper Award, and was the first-place winner of the inaugural Handel Aria Competition at the Madison Early Music Festival in 2013.
Elisa Sutherland is known for her detailed, stylistic interpretations of both early and new music. She sang in Grant Park Chorus at Grant Park Music Festival (2012-2013), was Section Leader at Kenilworth Union Church (September 2011-2014), and sang in the Chorus of Chicago Bach Project (2013-2014). This upcoming season, she will perform with Philadelphia's contemporary music choir The Crossing, New York ensembles Ekmeles and New York City's TENET (Director: Jolle Greenleaf),, New Chamber Ballet, Grammy-award winning octet Roomful of Teeth, Cleveland's Apollo's Fire (Director: Jeannette Sorrell), Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and her own early and new music sextet, Variant 6.
Elisa Sutherland has performed as a soloist with the American Bach Soloists (Director: Jeffrey Thomas), Apollo Chorus of Chicago, and Quicksilver Baroque, singing J.S. Bach's Mass in b minor (BWV 232), George Frideric Handel's Messiah, and Dietrich Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri. In the realm of contemporary music, she has premiered works with the Contemporary Music Ensemble at Northwestern University, and performed with the Rowan University Wind Ensemble. She has sung with LyricFest, Philadelphia's premiere art song concert series curated by Laura Ward.
Recent opera roles include Dido in Dido and Aeneas, Dorabella in W.A. Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Meg in Little Women, Ottavia in L'incoronazione di Poppea, and Nancy in Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring. She is also remembered for her Blazing Saddles - Madeline Kahn impression in a production of Die Fledermaus.
In addition, Elisa Sutherland was Voice Teacher at Guitar Center in Highland Park, Illinois (2013-2014). She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. |