The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University is proud to announce three-time Grammy Award winner Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano and star on the world’s leading stages and screens, as the 2023-2024 Aleko Endowed Master Class Artist.
Ms. Leonard’s master class will feature Shepherd School opera students:
Tessa McQueen, Soprano
Audrey Welsh, Mezzo-Soprano
Kellan Dunlap, Tenor
Adam Partridge, Baritone
with Bethany Self, Piano (Principal Coach of Opera Studies)
Her multi-day residency includes a public master class on Sunday, April 14 at 2:00pm in Brockman Hall for Opera’s Morrison Theater and four days of private coaching sessions with Shepherd School opera students.
The Aleko Endowed Master Class Artist Series brings leading artists and teachers to campus to work with students. Ms. Leonard will visit the Shepherd School while preparing for her lead role as Maria in Houston Grand Opera’s production of The Sound of Music, which opens April 26. She will return to HGO in the fall of 2024 to sing the title role in Rossini’s Cinderella. The Shepherd School graciously acknowledges HGO for coordinating this important teaching residency.
Free event, tickets required. General admission seating.
Artists
Three-time Grammy Award winning artist Isabel Leonard regularly appears on the world’s leading opera stages including The Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Wiener Staatsoper, Los Angeles Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, San Francisco Opera, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Salzburg Festspiele, and Teatro Comunale di Bologna. Leonard’s engagements during the 2023-24 season include Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Rosina in The Barber of Seville with LA Opera, Ravel’s Chansons madécasses in concert with the Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble, the title role in a new production of Offenbach’s Songbird with Washington National Opera, and the title role in Cinderella with Bavarian State Opera.