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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.
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