Laquita Mitchell
Laquita Mitchell
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Voice
- Website: laquitamitchellsoprano.com
Soprano Laquita Mitchell consistently earns acclaim in eminent opera companies throughout North America and Europe. Already in her young career, she has led performances with the Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, Washington National Opera, and Opéra Comique in Paris, among many others.
In her compelling debut as Bess in Porgy and Bess with the San Francisco Opera, Opera News said, "Soprano Laquita Mitchell, in her first outing as Bess, dazzled the SFO [San Francisco Opera] audience with her purity of tone and vivid theatrical presence." She has since reprised the role with New Jersey State Opera, the Atlanta Opera, Madison Symphony, the Boston Symphony Orchestra (at both Tanglewood and Symphony Hall), and also the Robert Russell Bennett Porgy and Bess Suite with the Cleveland Orchestra, Santa Barbara Symphony, Sheboygan Symphony, and with the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra in Sopot, Poland.
The New York Times hailed her portrayal of Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata in New York City Opera's 2012 season opener: "Ms. Mitchell's voice is rich, shimmering and sizable, her singing was tender and expressive." Other notable appearances include Micaela in Carmen at the New York City Opera; Leonora in Il trovatore in South Carolina as well as with Nashville Opera; the role of Sharon in Terrance McNally’s Master Class at the Kennedy Center; Musetta in La bohème in a return to the Los Angeles Opera; Mimì in La bohème with Cincinnati Opera and at the Utah Symphony and Opera; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Florentine Opera, Portland Opera; and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Opera New Jersey.
Also active as a concert artist, Mitchell most recently performed Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Louisville Orchestra, the world premiere of Steven Stucky's August 4, 1964 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under Jaap Van Zweden, her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut as the soprano soloist in Wynton Marsalis' All Rise under Kurt Masur, and the soprano solo in Tippett's A Child of Our Time with the Washington Chorus at the Kennedy Center. She has also performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, the New York Symphonic Ensemble at Alice Tully Hall, with Branford Marsalis and the Garden State Philharmonic, and with the New York Festival of Song "Salute to Arlen" concert at Carnegie Hall. She made her debut with the New World Symphony in Alberto Ginastera's Cantata para la America Magica. She returned to the Cincinnati Opera in the role of Micaela in Bizet's Carmen. She also was featured in the Cincinnati Opera's Park Concert Gala held at Washington Park in downtown Cincinnati. In summer 2014, Mitchell was asked to give a solo recital with accompanist Craig Terry for the Television Critics Association in Los Angeles under the auspices of PBS. In fall 2014, she joined Beth Morrison Projects for David Lang's The Difficulty of Crossing a Field in the role of Virginia Creeper. She recorded The Difficulty of Crossing a Field as well as performed the piece for NPR radio at Roulette performance space. She recently made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Maestro Yannick Nezet-Seguinin the 2015 Salute to Dr, Martin Luther King, Jr. at Girard College. Her 2015–16 season began with an appearance in two recitals with Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, performing works by Samuel Barber, John Carter, and Lee Hoiby. She made her New York Philharmonic debut in fall 2015 in "In Their Footsteps: Great African American Singers and Their Legacy," a special two-day event celebrating ground-breaking soloists who have influenced generations of singers. She was the soprano soloist in the Brahms Requiem with the Color of Music Festival in Charleston, South Carolina. Mitchell will also sing the soprano solos in Mendelssohn's Elijah with Princeton ProMusica. She then made her official debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Maestro Yannick Nezet-Seguin in the world premiere of One Land, One River, One People by Hannibal. She then made her debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in their Classical Roots Concert Honoring Jessye Norman, conducted by Roderick Cox, singing the Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss. She then sang the role of Bess from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
Mitchell's 2016–17 season began with the opening night of the Philadelphia Orchestra's 50th Anniversary at Saratoga Springs Performing Arts Center, conducted by Stephane Deneve. Mitchell sang excerpts from Hannibal's One Land, One River, One People and was the soprano soloist for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. She debuted with the Arizona Opera in their 45th Anniversary Sapphire Celebration singing excerpts from Verdi's Aida and Puccini's La bohème and Turandot. She returned to Chicago where she was heard in recital at Roosevelt University with pianist Shannon McGinnis. She also made her role debut as the Countess in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro with the Toledo Opera. In spring 2017, Mitchell returned to the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra for an evening of Opera Arias and Choruses. She made her Hungarian debut in June 2017 in the role of Bess in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess at the St. Margetsziget Festival.
Mitchell's 2017–18 season included a return to the role of Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata at Opera Memphis. She made debuts with the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven: Symphony No. 9) and the Allentown Symphony in a salute to Bernstein and Gershwin, and a much-anticipated debut with the Oratorio Society of New York in the world premiere work Sanctuary Road by Paul Moravec. She also created the role of Coretta Scott King in Douglas Tappin's I Dream with Opera Grand Rapids, Toledo Opera, and Opera Carolina.
Laquita Mitchell is a Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grand Prize Winner and was awarded a 2004 Sara Tucker Award. She was also the First Prize Winner of the Wiener Kammer Oper's 2003 Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition, and the First Prize Winner of the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, as well as the winner of the Audience Choice Award. Mitchell is an alumna of the San Francisco Opera's Merola Program and the Houston Grand Opera Studio. She completed her master's and the Professional Studies Certificate at the Manhattan School of Music, and her bachelor's at Westminster Choir College. She is the recipient of the 2010 Distinguished Young Alumni Award from her the Manhattan School of Music. In May 2015, she received the Alumni Award from Westminster Choir College. In March 2014, she appeared in the role of Bess in the San Francisco Opera's DVD of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.
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