Lucy Shelton, soprano

Winner of two Walter W. Naumburg Awards—as chamber musician as well as solo recitalist – soprano Lucy Shelton continues to enjoy an international career bringing her dramatic vocalism and brilliant interpretive skills to repertoire of all periods. An esteemed exponent of 20th- and 21st- Century repertory, she has premiered over 100 works. Notable among these are song cycles by Elliott Carter, Oliver Knussen, Louis Karchin and James Yannatos; chamber works by Carter, Joseph Schwantner, Mario Davidovsky, Stephen Albert, Lewis Spratlan, Charles Wuorinen, Gabriella Lena Frank, Bruce Adolphe, Alexander Goehr, Poul Ruders, Anne Le Baron and Thomas Flaherty; orchestral works by Knussen, Albert, Schwantner, David Del Tredici, Gerard Grisey, Ezra Laderman, Sally Beamish, Virko Baley and Ned Rorem; and an opera by Robert Zuidam.

An avid chamber musician, she has been a guest artist with ensembles such as the Emerson, Brentano, Enso, Mendelssohn and Guarnieri string quartets, the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, 21st Century Consort, Speculum Musicae, Da Capo Chamber Players, Sospeso, New York New Music Ensemble, Boston Musica Viva, Da Camera of Houston, eighth blackbird, the Ensemble Moderne, Nash Ensemble, Klangform Wien, Schoenberg-Asko, and Ensemble Intercontemporain. Shelton has participated in numerous festivals including those of Aspen, Santa Fe, Ojai, Tanglewood, Chamber Music Northwest, BBC Proms, Aldeburgh, Caen, Kuhmo, Togo and Salzburg.
Shelton has appeared with leading conductors such as Alsop, Barenboim, Boulez, De Leeuw, Dutoit, Gilbert, Knussen, Nagano, Rattle, Rilling, Rostropovich, Salonen, Slatkin and Spano with major orchestras worldwide including Amsterdam, Boston, Chicago, Cologne, Denver, Edinburgh, Helsinki, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Minnesota, Munich, New York, Paris, St. Louis, Stockholm, Sydney and Tokyo.

Highlights of recent seasons include her Zankel Hall debut with the Met Chamber Orchestra and Maestro James Levine in Carter’s A Mirror On Which To Dwell, numerous performances of Pierrot Lunaire in collaboration with the eighth blackbird ensemble, a ten-day residency of coaching and performing at the University of Oregon and participation in various composers’ birthday celebrations: Elliott Carter’s 100th in Turin, Italy and New York; Oliver Knussen’s 50th in London; Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ 70th in Turin, Italy; James Primosch’s 50th in Philadelphia; George Perle’s 90th and Milton Babbitt’s 90th in Princeton and New York. Six CD’s have been released with works by Alberto Ginastera, Anne Le Baron, Virko Baley, Louis Karchin, Chinary Ung and Charles Wuorinen. Her extensive discography is on the Deutsche Grammophon, Koch International, Naxos, Nonesuch, NMC, Bridge, Albany and Innova labels.

A native of California, Shelton’s primary mentor was Jan De Gaetani. She has taught at the Third Street Settlement School in Manhattan, Eastman School, New England Conservatory, Cleveland Institute and the Britten-Pears School. She joined the resident artist faculty of the Tanglewood Music Center in 1996. In the fall of 2007 she joined the Manhattan School of Music’s Contemporary Performance Faculty. Shelton is a member of the Symphony Space All Stars.