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Michele Sexton Michele's web site Sweeney Todd |
Soprano Michele Sexton has
been hailed in the press as “tremendous”, “an artist worth discovering” with
her “magnificent”, “big, flexible voice and shining tone” and character portrayals
that are “mesmerizing”, “stirring” and “affecting”. Michele’s is a passionate,
life-long love of music and performing that has taken this versatile performer
to the stages of opera, operetta, concert, and musical theater.
Ms. Sexton’s repertoire of operatic roles includes Mozart’s Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Elettra in Idomeneo, Fiodiligi in Cosi fan Tutte, Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Konstanze in Entfuhrung aus dem Serail, First Lady in Die Zauberflote, Lucia di Lammermoor, Verdi’s Violetta in La Traviata, Leonora in Il Trovatore, and Alice Ford in Falstaff, Puccinin’s Tosca, Suor Angelica, Mimi and Musetta in La Boheme, as well as Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Micaela in Carmen, Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmelites, the title characters in Floyd’s Susannah and in Richard Strauss’ Arabella. The world of operetta finds Michele at home in the roles of Hanna in The Merry Widow, and Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus. Ms. Sexton has performed extensively with opera companies, festivals, theaters and musical groups throughout the United States and Europe including, St. Petersburg Opera Co., Opera New Jersey, Des Moines Metro Opera, Natchez Festival of Music, Springfield Regional Opera, The Shaker Mountain Festival, Opera in the Ozarks, and New Opera Festival di Roma. She has appeared as a soprano soloist with the New Jersey Pops Orchestra, Festival Orchestra of the Atlantic, and the Garden State Symphonic Band. In 2012, Michele traveled to China for a six-week concert tour as the soprano soloist with the Hollywood Concert Orchestra, playing some of the largest concert halls in China in a program of Broadway and cinema favorites. Recently, Ms. Sexton made her debut with the St. Petersburg Opera Company in Florida, taking on the title role in Cole Porter’s Kiss Me Kate, receiving critical praise for her “star power”, “excellent singing and acting”, and “glamorous figure”. A favorite at the Bristol Riverside Theater in PA, she joined the company for their annual “American Christmas Songbook” and “Broadway Summer Spectacular”. Michele was back at Lincoln Center for a return engagement with the Metropolitan Opera Guild for “Flavors of Puccini” singing the title role in Suor Angelica. Previous MOG appearances include Elettra in Idomeneo for “Exploring Mozart” and Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata for the “Masterly Singing” program. Ms. Sexton received critical praise for her portrayal of the Beggar Woman in “Sweeney Todd” at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Michele joined the Hawaii Opera Theater for another turn as the Beggar Woman in “Sweeney”. Ms. Sexton has performed at the Bristol Riverside Theater in PA as a Principal Artist in the company’s annual “American Christmas Songbook”. Other engagements include a concert with orchestra of Italian opera with the Boheme Opera Company of New Jersey, as well as concert appearances in “Puccini to Broadway and Beyond”. Michele returned to the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival as an aristocrat in “Evita”. Ms. Sexton received a Bachelor and Master of Music Degree in Vocal Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, financing her education by winning the title of Miss New Jersey and taking top prizes as a double preliminary competition winner in talent and swimsuit. She went on to distinguish herself on national television as a Top Ten Finalist in the 1993 Miss America Pageant, singing “Vissi d’arte” from Tosca. Michele begins the 2021 season with several performances with the Metropolitan Opera Guild singing excerpts from Il Trovatore and La Traviata. Following this she will sing on videos of both opera and Broadway. 1/23 |