Erica Brookhyser has emerged as a formidable mezzo-soprano in the lyric and now the dramatic repertories. Her interpretations of Brangäne, Carmen, Didon, Preziosilla, Suzuki, as well as Waltraute, Wellgunde, and Zweite Norn have garnered excellent notices in Europe and the United States.
Notable recent performances include her debut with Los Angeles Philharmonic in La Traviata, a fully-staged El Niño at Spoleto Festival USA, Suzuki/Madama Butterfly with Opera Colorado, Brigitta/Die Tote Stadt with Odyssey Opera, and her return to Los Angeles Opera as Meg Page/Falstaff.
As principle mezzo-soprano in the Staatstheater Darmstadt ensemble, Ms. Brookhyser’s repertoire included the lyric roles of Cherubino/Le Nozze di Figaro, Muse-Nicklausse/ Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Fenena/Nabucco, and Orfeo/Orfeo ed Euridice, as well as the dramatic roles of Brangäne/ Tristan und Isolde, Carmen/Carmen, Didon/Les Troyens, Lola/Cavalleria Rusticana, Preziosilla/La Forza del Destino, Suzuki/Madama Butterfly, and Waltraute, Wellgunde, Zweite Norn/Der Ring des Nibelungen. She has appeared as Carmen with Theater Erfurt and Seefestspiele Berlin, and at Nationaltheater Mannheim as Wellgunde/Das Rheingold.
Ms. Brookhyser was the 2012 winner of ARTE-TV “Open Opera: Who will become Carmen?”--a talent-search television show that aired in France and Germany, in which she won the title role of Carmen for a live televised broadcast from Berlin. She has received other honors including Semifinalist at the Operalia Competition, 1st Place Northwest Regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a Sullivan Foundation Career Grant, and the John Moriarty Presidential Scholarship.
Her concert appearances include Moses und Aron with Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of James Levine, Blizzard Voices with BMOP under Gil Rose, Bach St. Matthew Passion and Mozart Mass in C-minor with the Cincinnati May Festival conducted by James Conlon, Das Lied von der Erde and Wesendonck Lieder with Orchester Staatstheater Darmstadt under the baton of Elias Grandy, and the Mahler Rückert Lieder with Newport Symphony Orchestra conducted by Adam Flatt.
Ms. Brookhyser made her professional debut as Myrtale/Thaïs with Boston Lyric Opera while still a Master’s student at New England Conservatory. She apprenticed with Utah Opera, Central City Opera, Tanglewood Music Center, Santa Fe Opera, and with the Plácido Domingo Young Artist Program at Los Angeles Opera where her mainstage roles included Waltraute/DieWalküre, Mercedes/Carmen, Kate Pinkerton/Madama Butterfly, Annina/La Traviata, and the Mother/Die Gezeichneten.
Notable recent performances include her debut with Los Angeles Philharmonic in La Traviata, a fully-staged El Niño at Spoleto Festival USA, Suzuki/Madama Butterfly with Opera Colorado, Brigitta/Die Tote Stadt with Odyssey Opera, and her return to Los Angeles Opera as Meg Page/Falstaff.
As principle mezzo-soprano in the Staatstheater Darmstadt ensemble, Ms. Brookhyser’s repertoire included the lyric roles of Cherubino/Le Nozze di Figaro, Muse-Nicklausse/ Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Fenena/Nabucco, and Orfeo/Orfeo ed Euridice, as well as the dramatic roles of Brangäne/ Tristan und Isolde, Carmen/Carmen, Didon/Les Troyens, Lola/Cavalleria Rusticana, Preziosilla/La Forza del Destino, Suzuki/Madama Butterfly, and Waltraute, Wellgunde, Zweite Norn/Der Ring des Nibelungen. She has appeared as Carmen with Theater Erfurt and Seefestspiele Berlin, and at Nationaltheater Mannheim as Wellgunde/Das Rheingold.
Ms. Brookhyser was the 2012 winner of ARTE-TV “Open Opera: Who will become Carmen?”--a talent-search television show that aired in France and Germany, in which she won the title role of Carmen for a live televised broadcast from Berlin. She has received other honors including Semifinalist at the Operalia Competition, 1st Place Northwest Regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a Sullivan Foundation Career Grant, and the John Moriarty Presidential Scholarship.
Her concert appearances include Moses und Aron with Boston Symphony Orchestra under the baton of James Levine, Blizzard Voices with BMOP under Gil Rose, Bach St. Matthew Passion and Mozart Mass in C-minor with the Cincinnati May Festival conducted by James Conlon, Das Lied von der Erde and Wesendonck Lieder with Orchester Staatstheater Darmstadt under the baton of Elias Grandy, and the Mahler Rückert Lieder with Newport Symphony Orchestra conducted by Adam Flatt.
Ms. Brookhyser made her professional debut as Myrtale/Thaïs with Boston Lyric Opera while still a Master’s student at New England Conservatory. She apprenticed with Utah Opera, Central City Opera, Tanglewood Music Center, Santa Fe Opera, and with the Plácido Domingo Young Artist Program at Los Angeles Opera where her mainstage roles included Waltraute/DieWalküre, Mercedes/Carmen, Kate Pinkerton/Madama Butterfly, Annina/La Traviata, and the Mother/Die Gezeichneten.