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Michelle DeYoung is an American classical vocalist who has an active international career performing in operas and concerts. Raised in Colorado and California, DeYoung is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artists Development Program. She won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1992 and has been a regular performer at the Met ever since. In 1995 she was the recipient of the Marian Anderson Award. In 2009 she completed her Bachelor's Degree in Music from California State University Northridge. In May 2010 the University honored her with a Doctorate in Fine Arts for her contributions to the music industry. Past recipients include Michael Eisner, and Carol Vaness.
Early on in her career DeYoung sang with Glimmerglass Opera and the Wolf Trap Opera, two companies devoted to fostering the careers and talents of young opera singers. The mezzo-soprano has since performed in leading roles on the stages of many of the world's best opera houses and opera festivals, including the Metropolitan Opera-New York City, the Bayreuth Festival, the Berlin State Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Houston Grand Opera, the New National Theatre Tokyo, the Opéra National de Paris, the Salzburg Festival, the Seattle Opera, and the Théâtre du Châtelet. She has enjoyed particular success in portraying Wagnerian roles like Fricka, Sieglinde and Waltraute in The Ring Cycle, Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde, Kundry in Parsifal, and Venus in Tannhäuser. Some of her other stage roles include Gertrude in Hamlet, Jocaste in Oedipus Rex, Judith in Bluebeard's Castle, Marguerite in La Damnation de Faust, and the title role in The Rape of Lucretia. Outside the Wagner roles she has become the premiere Judith in Bluebeard's Castle. She has performed this role with conductor James Levine at Tanglewood, and conductor/composer Pierre Boulez at the Barbican in London, and also with The Cleveland Orchestra. She also performed the role in Salzburg. The role of Judith is one of the most taxing for a mezzo as it goes all the way up to a high C. Michelle DeYoung's range as a singer is three octaves. She also portrayed the role of the Shaman in the world premiere of Tan Dun's The First Emperor at the Metropolitan Opera on December 21, 2006. Ms. DeYoung is also a favorite singer for newer composers like John Adams and Elliot Carter, having premiered several pieces.
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