Emily M. Bennett, Soprano.
Ms. Bennett has performed a number of leading and supporting roles, including: Countess Almaviva, (Le nozze di Figaro), Morgana (Alcina), Miss Pinkerton in (The Old Maid and the Thief), Tytania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Adele in (Die Fledermaus), both Dido and Belinda in (Dido and Aeneas), Venus (Venus and Adonis), Miss Silverpeal (The Impresario), and Gasparina (La Canterina).
Equally interested in oratorio and chamber works, she made her professional debut singing the role of Gabriel in Haydn’s The Creation with the Tallahassee Community Chorus under the direction of André Thomas, and soon after, performed with the Missouri Civic Orchestra and Choral Union as the soprano soloist in Bach’s B Minor Mass. While residing outside of Ann Arbor, MI, Ms. Bennett spent two seasons with the Kalamazoo Bach Festival Choir, where she was the soprano soloist for Bach’s St. John’s Passion and Magnificat. She made her debut with the Rackham Symphony Choir as one of the Anonymous Four voices of Joan in Richard Einhorn’s work Voices of Light and as a chorister in Michigan Opera Theatre’s production of Beethoven’s Fidelio and Verdi’s Aida. Recent engagements include chorus for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s production of DvoÅ™ák’s Rusalka, soprano soloist for Mozart’s Missa brevis in F, and a lecture recital titled Songs of Faith and Love: A Study of Olivier Messiaen’s Poèmes pour Mi, which included a discussion and live performance of the cycle.
Ms. Bennett holds a Bachelor of Music in performance from the University of Missouri and a Master of Music in performance from Florida State University, where she studied with mezzo-soprano Ann Harrell and world-renowned tenor, Stanford Olsen, respectively. This year she completed her DMA in performance while studying with distinguished mezzo-soprano Joyce Castle at the University of Kansas.
Ms. Bennett recently opened a studio in the Waldo, Kansas City area where she resides with her husband, Mark, and her two cats, Nelson and Hobbes.