Young 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.”
A recent recipient of an Artist Diploma from New England Conservatory, Elizabeth Keusch has already been heard in major venues in the world’s capital cities. As mentioned above, her Boston Symphony debut, with conductor Robert Spano, occurred last season with the American premiere of Osvaldo Golijov’s La Pasión Según San Marcos. Performances of Academy-Award winning composer Tan Dun’s Water Passion for St. Matthew have taken her to the Europaische Musikfest 2000 in Stuttgart (televised live), Germany for the world premiere and to the Barbican Centre in London (with cellist Yo Yo Ma) the Sautille Center in Tokyo, and at the Oregon Bach Festival for additional performances of the work. She looks forward to future performances of the Water Passion at the BAM Next Wave Festival in New York this season. 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 his Symphony 2000 Today, Millennium Symphony.
The soprano’s 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 and Oliver Knussen’s Whitman Settings and George Benjamin’s A Mind of Winter with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester with George Benjamin conducting. Her New World Symphony debut will be in a repeat of the Deutsches Symphony program, also with George Benjamin conducting. At Tanglewood, she premiered George Benjamin’s Upon Silence with conductor Stefan Asbury. In the 2002-2003 season, she returns to Berlin with the Kammersymphonie in Wolfgang Rihm’s Aria/Ariadne. 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, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Baltimore Symphony, 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 Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Colorado Music Festival, conducted by Alan Yamamoto. Miss Keusch’s Pacific Symphony debut will be in William Bolcom’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, which will be conducted by Carl St. Clair. She will also perform James MacMillan’s Parthenogenesis and Judith Weir’s Thread appearing for the first time on the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella Series. The soprano will join the Longwood Symphony (MA) for Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
She performed Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire with the New England Conservatory Contemporary Ensemble and Auros Group for New Music. 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 Lokrop with Lucy Shelton at the Hugo Wolf Akademie in Stuttgart and with Collage New Music in Boston. The soprano has also appeared with Da Capo Chamber Players, Collage Group for New Music, Auros Group for New Music.
Festival appearances include Tanglewood, the Berliner Festwoche, the Festival Ultraschall, Festival d’automne in Paris, the Festival Hőrgänge, the Sonic Boom Festival at Columbia University, and the Colorado Music Festival, among others. She returns to the Ultraschall Festival this winter for a portrait concert featuring works by Beat Furrer.
Also in demand for opera productions worldwide, this past season 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. She will repeat the work in a production directed by Alfred Kirchner and presented by Neue Oper Wien as part of the Wiener Festwochen this season. Das Madchen mit den Schwefelhölzern was also recorded for release by the Staatstheater Stuttgart. Elizabeth Keusch performed the one-person opera Anna Frank’s Diary by Grigory Frid at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, and will repeat the work under the auspices of the Baltimore Symphony. 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 Boston Musica Viva at the Tsai performing Arts Center in Boston. Celebrating Lukas Foss’ 80th birthday, her performance of Foss’ 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.
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 and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and the University Chaplaincy Dundee in Scotland.
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, where she performed a wide range of repertoire ranging from Schumann, op. 90 to Harbison’s Mirabai Songs. At Tanglewood she 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 resides in Boston.
