Elizabeth Futral, soprano

American soprano Elizabeth Futral has established herself as one of the world's leading sopranos. With her stunning vocalism and vast dramatic range, she has embraced a repertoire that ranges from the Baroque to world premieres.

The 2014-2015 season finds Ms. Futral singing her first Mimi in La Boheme with Opera Birmingham, a double bill of Elle in Poulenc's La voix humane and Nedda in I Pagliacci with Opera Columbus, and Miss Hedgehog in Tobias Picker's The Fantastic Mr. Fox with Opera San Antonio.  Concert performances include the gala opening of the Tobin Center in San Antonio, Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and Mahler Symphony No. 4 with the Roanoke Symphony, Strauss' Four Last Songs and Mahler 4 with the Charleston Symphony, Handel arias with Music of The Baroque, Previn's Honey and Rue with the Pacific Symphony, and the Mozart Requiem and Exultate, jubilate with the Colorado Symphony led by Pinchas Zukerman.  She will also perform in recital at Louisiana State University and Washington & Lee University.

A native of Louisiana, Ms. Futral studied with Virginia Zeani at Indiana University. She joined the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, won the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions in 1991 and was catapulted to stardom with critically acclaimed performances of Delibes' Lakmé at the New York City Opera in 1994. Career milestones soon followed, cementing her star status: a win in Placido Domingo’s Operalia Competition, the title role in Rossini’s Matilde di Shabran in Pesaro, her debut at the San Francisco Opera as Stella in the world premiere of André Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire, and her Metropolitan Opera debut in a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor.

Ms. Futral’s most recent recording release is Previn’s Brief Encounter on Deutsche Grammophon. Other operatic recordings include A Streetcar Named Desire and Ravel'sL'enfant et les sortilèges for Deutsche Grammophon, Rossini's Otello and Zelmira, Pacini'sCarlo di Borgogna for Opera Rara, Lucia di Lammermoor for Chandos as part of their “Opera in English” series, Of Mice and Men on Albany Records, Six Characters in Search of An Author on New World Records, and Philip Glass's chamber opera Hydrogen Jukebox for Euphorbia Records