Michelle Rice

Style: Opera; Classical

Bio: With “tones of pure gold” (Washington Post), Michelle Rice brings to her work a rich timbre and performance intensity. As Mrs. Grose in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw at the Kennedy Center conducted by Lorin Maazel, Rice was described as “nuanced and sensitive” (Washington Post), “dramatically charged and vocally superlative” (dcist.com), and having a “firm, warm vocalism [that] made every phrase speak” (Baltimore Sun). Before a recent change to dramatic soprano repertoire, Rice has been hailed as a “standout” in mezzo repertoire, appearing in such roles as Herodias (Salome), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Flora Bervoix (La traviata), Lola (Cavalleria rusticana), Carmen and Mercedes (Carmen), the Witch and the Mother (Hansel and Gretel), Antonia’s Mother (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Gertude (Roméo et Juliette), Berta (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro), Sesto (La clemenza di Tito), Irene (Tamburlaine), and Serse and Arsamene (Serse), with companies including West Bay Opera, Opera San José, Fresno Grand Opera, Opera Cleveland, Annapolis Opera, Pasadena Opera, New Orleans Opera, and other organizations throughout the United States. As Emilia in Festival Opera’s production of Verdi’s Otello, the San Francisco Chronicle extolled that she “brought vocal and theatrical impact to the role.” Performances of 20th- and 21st-century repertoire have included the roles of Savitri (Savitri), The Mother (Amahl and the Night Visitors), Mrs. Olsen (Street Scene), the Secretary (The Consul), Mère Marie (Dialogues des Carmélites), Anna (Tobias and the Angel), Jade Boucher (Dead Man Walking), Sidia Gruenfeld (Lost Childhood), Madre Melchora in the world premiere of Carla Lucero’s Juana with Opera UCLA, and the role of Kathy Hagen in Terence Blanchard’s Champion: An Opera in Jazz. Rice created the title role in Clara, a 21stcentury opera by Robert Convery based on the life of Clara Schumann. Of that performance, the Washington Post declared, “Rice was…reflective and confident in both her singing and acting…[she] excelled at dramatic subtleties and pierced scenes with her presence and clarity of voice—especially compelling during revelatory biographical moments.” Rice’s recital programs feature song cycles such as Mohammed Fairouz’ Jeder Mensch with texts from the diary of Alma Mahler, Ned Rorem’s Evidence of Things Not Seen, and Dominick Argento’s Pulitzer Prize-winning monodrama From the Diary of Virginia Woolf. Her 2012 performance of Virginia Woolf was regarded as “magnificent” by the composer himself. On the concert stage, Rice has performed the mezzo solos in Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Händel’s Messiah, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Schubert’s Mass No. 5, Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri, Elgar’s The Music Makers, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, Carlos Fonseca’s Missa Afro-Brasileira, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Musorgsky’s Songs and dances of death, among others, as well as the soprano solo in Korngold’s Passover Psalm, with groups including the Berkeley Symphony, Washington Concert Opera, and MidAmerica Productions at Carnegie Hall. Of her mezzo solo in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Masterworks Chorale of San Mateo, San Francisco Classical Voice said that her “dark, full sound shone brightly and gave serious weight” to her performance. Her concert performances have run the gamut from the mezzo solo in a lauded performance of the Verdi Requiem with James Morris and Sharon Sweet, to a video presentation of Shahab Paranj’s Rishe-e dar khak (Roots in the land) for Long Beach Opera’s acclaimed 2020 Songbook. Ms. Rice holds degrees from the University of Washington and the University of Maryland Opera Studio.

Voice Type: Soprano

Music Styles Taught: Opera; Classical

Availability: I am available as a performer; I am currently accepting private students; I am available as a clinician or presenter

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