ELIZABETH KEUSCH, SOPRANO

American soprano Elizabeth Keusch is rapidly emerging as an artist to watch. Already firmly established in the new music community, her musical and communication gifts were acknowledged by the press in recent reviews. Of her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut in the American premiere of Golijov's La Pasión Según San Marcos , Richard Dyer of The Boston Globe , wrote "Elizabeth Keusch was radiant in the two great soprano arias..." And reviewing her performance of the Boston premiere of Judith Weir's King Harald's Saga , Keith Powers of the Boston Herald wrote "...Keusch launched into a one-woman operatic set. Singing unaccompanied, she moved from narration to song with striking effect. She is a complete artist, and sang with confidence and strength."

Elizabeth Keusch has already been heard in major venues in the world's capital cities. Performances of Academy-Award winning composer Tan Dun's Water Passion for St. Matthew have taken her to the Europaische Musikfest 2000 in Stuttgart, Germany for the world premiere and to the Barbican Centre in London (with cellist Yo-Yo Ma), the Sautille Center in Tokyo, to both the BAM Next Wave Festival and the River to River Festival in New York and to the Oregon Bach Festival for additional performances. In fall 2004 she performed Tan Dun's "Passion" at the Macau International Music Festival and in 2005 at the Perth International Arts Festival. She has appeared with the Taipei Symphony Orchestra in the national premiere of Tan Dun's The Gate: Orchestral Theatre IV , and repeated the work with the Singapore Symphony. The soprano appeared with the Shanghai Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra in televised performances of Tan Dun's Symphony 2000 Today, Millennium Symphony . In the 2005-2006 season she will travel with the Water Passion for St. Matthew to the Benelux Region for several performances slated for The Netherlands and Belgium.

The soprano's concert debut in Vienna was at the Mozart-Saal at the Wiener Konzerthaus in a program featuring works by Sciarrino and Beat Furrer with flutist Eva Furrer. In Berlin, she has performed Hartmann's Friede Anno with the Rias Kammerchor, Wolfgang Rihm's Aria/Ariadne with the Kammersymphonie, and Oliver Knussen's Whitman Settings and George Benjamin's A Mind of Winter with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester with George Benjamin conducting. Chamber orchestra performances include Britten's Les Illuminations and George Benjamin's A Mind of Winter with the Bochum Symphony in Germany under conductor Jonathan Stockhammer, and Varese's Offrandres with the Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin. She has also performed Rehnqvist's Puksaenger Lockrop with Lucy Shelton at the Hugo Wolf Akademie in Stuttgart and with Collage New Music in Boston.

Ms. Keusch was invited to perform Handel's Belshazzar (role of Nitocres) with Helmuth Rilling at the Bach Akademie in Stuttgart as well. This collaboration with Maestro Rilling followed successive engagements at the Oregon Bach Festival where she performed Wolfgang Rihm's Deus Passus , as well as the Mozart C minor Mass, the Bach Magnificat, Jeptha (role of Iphis) and Bach Cantata 112. The soprano was re-engaged for summer 2004 for performances of the Mozart Requiem and Mendelssohn's Elijah , also with Helmuth Rilling. In spring 2005, she performed Elijah with Maestro Rilling in her Seattle Symphony debut. She will tour to Portugal with members of the Seattle Chamber Players for performances in winter 2006. Her St. Paul Chamber Orchestra debut will be performing Elliott Carter's Three Poems of Robert Frost .

New York concerts figured prominently in Miss Keusch's 2004-2005 calendar. She performed the American premiere of Lost Objects, a Baroque oratorio composed by Michael Gordon, David Lang and Julia Wolfe with libretto by Deborah Artman, which was directed by Francois Girard for the Next Wave Festival at BAM Opera House. Also in New York, she made her Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society debut performing Osvaldo Golijov's How slow the wind and Tenebre with the Pacifica String Quartet. A performance of the Schoenberg String Quartet no. 2 with the Brentano String Quartet at Carnegie's Zankel Hall in New York followed a tour to Princeton University, Amherst College, at the Westport Arts Center, and an appearance as part of the Chamber Music Society of Bethlehem (PA) series. She further performed the work with the Borromeo String Quartet at the Gardner Museum in Boston, and at the New England Conservatory of Music and as part of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival programming. Her Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center debut was as soprano soloist in Nathan Currier's oratorio Gaian Variations which commemorated Earth Day in April 2004. Later that same spring, she returned to Avery Fisher Hall with the American Symphony Orchestra performing Liszt's Missa Solemnis with Music Director Leon Botstein conducting.

The soprano performed James MacMillan's Parthenogenesis and Judith Weir's Thread in her first appearance on the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Green Umbrella Series. She appeared again with the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing Berio's Laborintus II. The soprano returned to California for performances of William Bolcom's Songs of Innocence and Experience, which was conducted by Carl St. Clair. She returned to the Pacific Symphony for the Mozart Requiem. Her New World Symphony debut was a repeat of the Deutsches Symphony program, also with George Benjamin conducting. The soprano performed Mahler's Symphony No. 4 with the Colorado Music Festival, conducted by Alan Yamamoto and returned to Colorado to the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival for performances of Beethoven Symphony no. 9. She previously performed Beethoven Symphony no. 9 with the Baltimore Symphony under Mario Venzago, and with the Indianapolis Symphony where Maestro Venzago serves as Music Director. This season the soprano will perform the Mozart Requiem with Choral Arts Society of Washington DC.

In addition to the Colorado Music Festival and Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival performances mentioned above, Miss Keusch has appeared at Tanglewood, the Berliner Festwoche, the Festival Ultraschall, Festival d'automne in Paris, the Festival Hörgänge, and the Sonic Boom Festival at Columbia University, among others. She recently returned to the Ultraschall Festival for a portrait concert featuring works by Beat Furrer.

As a recent graduate of New England Conservatory, Elizabeth Keusch has appeared with virtually every musical organization in the Boston area. She performed Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire with the New England Conservatory Contemporary Ensemble and Auros Group for New Music. At Tanglewood, she performed a wide range of repertoire ranging from Schumann, op. 90 to Harbison's Mirabai Songs. The soprano gave the world premiere of Andrew Stewart's The Art of Japanese Bed Fighting and the American premiere of Robert Zuidam's Address to the New Tay Bridge. Elizabeth Keusch also premiered George Benjamin's Upon Silence with conductor Stefan Asbury at Tanglewood. She has also been heard as soloist in both the Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem, and the Bach B minor Mass with the Newton Choral Society, Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the Boston Philharmonic under Benjamin Zander (both in Boston and at Carnegie Hall), Schubert's Mass in G with Choro Allegro, and Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Longwood Symphony. As part of the Brandeis University Festival of Women Composers she performed Ancient Voices from Manyo by Yoko Nakatani. With Boston Cecilia, she performed the Poulenc Gloria. The soprano has also appeared with Da Capo Chamber Players and Collage Group for New Music. As part of the Close Encounters with Music's programming in the Berkshires, Miss Keusch performed Golijov's How Slow the Wind and selected lieder by women composers. With Musica Viva, she has performed Kurtag's Scenes from a Novel, 15 Songs to Poems by Rimma Dalos. She returns to Musica Viva for performances of Carl Ruggles's Vox Clamans in Deserto. She will repeat the Brahms Requiem with the Pioneer Symphony in Massachusetts.

Boston audiences have enjoyed recital programs given by Miss Keusch at Jordan Hall, The Old South Meeting House, C. Walsh Theater (joint recital with Lucy Shelton) and the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum. Internationally she has appeared in recital at the Ruthven Parish Festival, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and the University Chaplaincy Dundee in Scotland. She has also appeared with Hartford's Chamber Music Plus joining actress Sandy Duncan in a "Portrait of Amy Beach".

Also in demand for opera productions worldwide, the soprano gave the world premiere of Paul-Heinz Dittrich's opera Zerbrochene Bilder (role of Medea) with the Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin at the Musikakademie Rheinsberg. She also performed the leading role of First Soprano in Lachenmann's Das Madchen mit den Schwefelhölzern with the Stuttgart Staatsoper in Stuttgart and in Paris, and will return for the revival in fall 2004. She also repeated the work in a production directed by Alfred Kirchner and presented by Neue Oper Wien as part of the Wiener Festwochen this past season. Das Madchen mit den Schwefelhölzern was also recorded for release by the Staatstheater Stuttgart. Miss Keusch made her Opéra National de Paris debut recently in Matthias Pintscher's new opera L'Espace Dernier conducted by Kwamé Ryan and directed by Michael Simon. Reviewing her performance, Opera News wrote "Elizabeth Keusch soared to stratospheric soprano heights with apparent ease."

In America, she performed the one-person opera Anne Frank's Diary by Grigory Frid at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. In addition, Miss Keusch has performed and recorded Shirish Kode's Drowned Woman of the Sky for the Capstone label. She also performed the title role in Encompass Theater's production of Argento's Miss Havisham's Wedding Night. Reviewing her performance Allan Kozinn of The New York Times wrote "This proves a wonderful star turn for Elizabeth Keusch... she had both the vocal power and the dramatic flexibility to make Miss Havisham alternately pitiful and terrifying." At Encompass she was also seen as Yvonne in Antheil's Venus in Africa and Phaedra in the Britten opera of the same name. She gave the world premiere of Shirish Korde's opera/dance/drama Chitra with Musica Viva at the Tsai performing Arts Center in Boston. Celebrating Lukas Foss's 80th birthday, her performance of Foss's Griffelkin with The Boston Modern Orchestra Project under Gil Rose at Jordan Hall in Boston and at Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood was recorded for release on the Chandos label. This season she, makes her Arizona opera debut as Polly Peachum in Bernard Uzan's production of Kurt Weill's Three Penny Opera to be conducted by George Hanson.

Elizabeth Keusch holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Texas, a Master's of Music Degree and an Artist Diploma from New England Conservatory. While at New England Conservatory she was named the 2001 Presidential Scholar for the Conservatory. The soprano was a Tanglewood Fellow in summers 1997 and 1999.

Elizabeth Keusch resides in Boston.

(biography courtesy of www.janicemayer.com)