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.

A recent graduate of the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia, her performance credits include Donna Leonora in La forza del destino with Caramoor International Music Festival, the title role of Tosca with The Dallas Opera, Lucrezia Contarini in I Due Foscari with Opera Orchestra of New York, The Duchess in Adès' Powder Her Face with Musikfest Bremen, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Desdemona in Otello, Violetta in La Traviata, the title role of Vanessa, Anna in Le Villi, Mimì in La Bohème, Giorgetta in Il Tabarro, the title roles of Suor Angelica and Manon Lescaut, 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, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, 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, MIDEM & Radio France, SWR Faszination Musik TV, and many others. Ms. Kizart's vocal gift, with its "rich lyrical beauty and sheer dramatic power", has captureed 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, and Florida Grand Opera, Classical Singer Magazine Young Artist Competition; The Oratorio Society of New York; The Caruso International Voice Competition; and the Foundations of William Matheus Sullivan Singer Awards with the Inaugural Honorable Rose Bampton Award, Gerda Lissner, 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 exciting debuts with Lyric Fest Philadelphia, Baden Badener Philharmonie, Die Alte Oper Frankfurt, Gotham Chamber Orchestra as Costanza in L'isola disabitata, Die Deutsche Oper Berlin as Mimì in La Bohème and the title role of Marie Victoire, and with Opera North(UK) in the title role of Tosca.