Takesha Meshé Kizart

Chicago native and star of the feature film, “The Verdian Voice”, Takesha Meshé Kizart was lauded by jury, media, and public of the prestigious Concorso Internazionale Voci Verdiane “Città di Busseto” as Grand Prize Winner and the next great Verdian Voice of her generation, and awarded Grand Prize at the prestigious Concurso Internacional de Canto Montserrat Caballé by the luminous Caballé herself.

In her her fourth and final year as a Resident Artist of the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, her performance credits include Lucrezia Contarini in I Due Foscari with Opera Orchestra of New York, The Duchess in Adès’ Powder Her Face with Musikfest Bremen, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Desdemona in Otello, the title role of Vanessa, Anna in Le Villi, Mimì in La Bohème, Giorgetta in Il Tabarro, the title role of Suor Angelica, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Contessa Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Lià in L’Enfant Prodigue, Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow, the title role in Fort Worth Opera’s tour of La Cenerentola, the World Premiere of Train Is Comin’: Fisk Jubilee Singers, Händel’s Messiah, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Mendelssohn’s Lobegesang and Elijah, Dubois’ Seven Last Words, Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio, and Wagner’s Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde.

The grand-niece of Blues legend McKinley “Muddy Waters” Morganfield and a performer since the age of two, she has been a featured artist throughout the United States and abroad, appearing with The Dallas Opera, L’Orchestra della Fondazione Arturo Toscanini, SWR Broadcast Orchestra & Faszination Musik TV, and many others. Ms. Kizart's vocal gift, with its “rich lyrical beauty and sheer dramatic power”, has garnered top prizes from numerous organizations and competitions around the world. Among them, The Marian Anderson Historical Society; Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions; Opera Index Inc. and its Tribute to Jessye Norman; Guilds of The Dallas Opera, Connecticut Opera, Florida Grand Opera, and Palm Beach Opera; Classical Singer Magazine Young Artist Competition; The Oratorio Society of New York; Competizione dell’Opera Internationaler Gesangswettbewerb der Italienischen Oper; The Caruso International Voice Competition; and the Foundations of William Matheus Sullivan Singer Awards with the Honorable Rose Bampton Award, Gerda Lissner, Sergio Franchi, Liederkranz, and Albanese-Puccini which led to her debuts with Carnegie and Alice Tully Hall.

Recently the featured performer in The Metropolitan Opera’s Live HD Broadcast Intermission Feature, upcoming appearances include concerts in honor of Carlisle Floyd and Samuel Barber, Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with Columbia Festival Orchestra, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Donna Leonora in La forza del destino, the title role of Manon Lescaut, and Cleopatra in the *world premiere* with The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Violetta in La Traviata with AVA, and exciting debuts with MIDEM-L’Orchestre Régional de Cannes, Die Oper Frankfurt, Die Deutsche Oper Berlin as Mimì in La Bohème and the title role of Marie Victoire, Caramoor Music Festival as Donna Leonora in La forza del destino, Opera de Oviedo as Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, and with The Dallas Opera and Opera North-UK in the title role of Tosca.