Described by the New York Times as “a soprano of extraordinary agility and concentration… whose performance extended well beyond her strong, appealing singing to inhabit her eyes and other features,” Mary Elizabeth Mackenzie has captured the attention of audiences in New York, Chicago, Wisconsin, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Boston.

A passionate performer of contemporary music, Ms. Mackenzie has worked closely with composers John Harbison, Richard Danielpour, and James Primosch. She was invited to perform at John Harbison’s Token Creek Music Festival, premiering selections from his anthology of pop songs, Songs after Hours. She has also appeared with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble, The Juilliard School’s AXIOM Ensemble, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, the Continuum Ensemble, the Oakwood Chamber Players, Red Light New Music, and the Talea Ensemble. Ms. Mackenzie made her Alice Tully Hall debut performing Jean Barraqué's Chant Aprés Chant with the Juilliard Percussion Ensemble, directed by Dan Druckman. She was recently featured in a production of Héctor Parra’s Hypermusic: Ascension, a monodrama for soprano, at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City. She also recently appeared in the 2010 Musicians from Ravinia Tour, performing Schoenberg’s String Quartet No. 2 in f-sharp minor.

Ms. Mackenzie made her professional opera debut as Despina in Così fan tutte with Madison Opera under the direction of Kelly Kuo. Solo concert appearances include Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra, The Youth in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and Faure’s Requiem in New York City. Her operatic roles include Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro), Despina (Così fan tutte), Lucia (The Rape of Lucretia), Laetitia (The Old Maid and the Thief), Anne Trulove (The Rake’s Progress) and Beth (Little Women).

Special awards include the 2010 Marc and Eva Stern Fellowship and New American Song Award at “SongFest at Pepperdine,” second place in the 2007 Eisenberg-Fried Concerto Competition at Manhattan School of Music, and co-winner of Wisconsin Public Radio’s 2007 Neale Silva Young Artists Competition.

Mary Elizabeth Mackenzie, Soprano