Michelle DeYoung

Michelle DeYoung (born 1968 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States) is an American classical vocalist who has an active international career performing in operas and concerts.

Early life and education

While born in Michigan, DeYoung was raised in Colorado and California, the daughter of a minister. DeYoung is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artists Development Program. She won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1992 and has been a regular performer at the Met ever since. In 1995, she was the recipient of the Marian Anderson Award. In 2009, she completed her Bachelor's Degree (that she had to put on hold after going to The Met's Young Artist Program) in Music from California State University, Northridge. Past recipients include Michael Eisner and Carol Vaness.

Career

Early in her career, DeYoung sang with Glimmerglass Opera and the Wolf Trap Opera, two companies devoted to fostering the careers and talents of young opera singers. The mezzo-soprano has since performed in leading roles on the stages of many of the world's best opera houses and opera festivals, including the Metropolitan Opera-New York City, the Bayreuth Festival, the Berlin State Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Houston Grand Opera, the New National Theatre Tokyo, the Opéra National de Paris, the Salzburg Festival, the Seattle Opera, and the Théâtre du Châtelet. She has enjoyed particular success in portraying Wagnerian roles like Fricka, Sieglinde and Waltraute in The Ring Cycle, Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde, Kundry in Parsifal, and Venus in Tannhäuser. Some of her other stage roles include Gertrude in Hamlet, Jocaste in Oedipus Rex, Judith in Bluebeard's Castle, Marguerite in La Damnation de Faust, and the title role in The Rape of Lucretia. Outside the Wagner roles she has become the premiere Judith in Bluebeard's Castle. She has performed this role with conductor James Levine at Tanglewood, and conductor/composer Pierre Boulez at the Barbican in London, and also with The Cleveland Orchestra. She also performed the role in Salzburg. The role of Judith is one of the most taxing for a mezzo as it goes all the way up to a high C. Michelle DeYoung's range as a singer is three octaves. Ms. DeYoung is also a favorite singer for newer composers like John Adams and Elliot Carter, having premiered several pieces.

In 2008, DeYoung made her debut at La Scala as Brangäne, and the second one took on September 20, both in Broomfield, Colorado

Selected recordings

Berlioz, Les Troyens, Ben Heppner, Peter Mattei, Tigran Martirossian, Stephen Milling, Kenneth Tarver, Toby Spence, Isabelle Cals, Petra Lang, Michelle DeYoung, Sara Mingardo, London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony chorus, conducted by Colin Davis (Recorded live at the Barbican Hall, December). 4 CD: LSO Live, Cat: LSO0010 (2000)