2016 AWARDEE: MICHELLE BRADLEY

Michelle Bradley, soprano, is a first year resident with the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Program. The emerging artist from Houston, Texas has been hailed by Theater Jones for her voice which is “rich and vibrant, with evenness from the top to the bottom”. The grand prize winner of The Music Academy of the West’s 2014 Marilyn Horne Song Competition. Michelle completed a nationwide recital tour in May 2015 and soon after made her Met company debut in the Met’s Summer Recital Series. She has participated in master classes with Stephanie Blythe, Anne Sofie von Otter, Marilyn Horne, Deborah Voigt, and James Morris.

The 2016 Hildegard Behrens Foundation awardee has a master’s degree in vocal performance from Bowling Green State University and is the recipient of other prestigious awards that include prizes in the Gerda Lissner and Lois Alba Aria vocal competitions. Michelle’s notable roles are Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and the title role in Verdi’s Aida. She recently performed the role of Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte with Opera Ebony. This summer, Michelle again sings favorite arias and duets, this time from the operas Rigoletto, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, La Traviata and La Bohème at the July 7, 9, 11 and 13 concerts of the Metropolitan Opera 2016 Summer Recital Series held in New York City parks of all five boroughs.

 

Michelle Bradley with Lindemann Program Director Brian Zeger and Hildegard Behrens Foundation Chairman Dr. Gaston Ormazabal at the award ceremony held at the Grand Tier of the Metropolitan Opera’s on December 2, 2024

 

What the critics say of Michelle Bradley

Of her performances at the Met’s 2016 Summer Recital Series:

“She had the whole park in her hands.”

“And Bradley is surely headed for diva status with her confident stage presence and the luscious soprano she poured over arias from Louise and La Rondine.

She capped the evening with the final encore, which she introduced with a charming and very personal speech about the world’s current tribulations and the need for hope and faith to overcome our troubles. Then, as she sang the first phrase of the spiritual “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” you could hear from all around that quick gasp of breath that presages weeping. By the time Bradley soared to a golden high C in the song’s last verse, her sobbing audience was united in communal, cathartic emotion.

She had the whole park in her hands.” - Observer

“Bradley sang with elegance and great attention to detail. She has a glorious voice, rich and vibrant, with evenness from the top to the bottom. Her German was excellent and she communicated the meaning of each word.” - Theater Jones Performing Arts News

“Ms. Bradley’s voice somehow made us think of a sunflower-a sturdy stem with a huge bloom on the top. She is one of those singers employing an economy of gesture with much of her expressiveness showing mainly in her face. The most remarkable thing about her recital was her perfect English diction. We grow weary of complaining about otherwise fine singers whose English leaves us wondering what in the world they were singing about. Not so here!

The sincerity of the spirituals which followed-“Give Me Jesus” and “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”- was unmistakable and clearly the audience was touched by Ms. Bradley’s communicative skills. Even more astonishing was her comfort while sitting at the piano accompanying herself in a work she wrote entitled “Trust”.

Ms.Bradley has an ample voice, perhaps heading into the dramatic soprano fach. How well she negotiated the highs and lows of “Vissi d’Arte” from Puccini’s Tosca.” - Voce di meche

“…soprano Michelle Bradley was simply superb!” - Peninsula Reviews (May 9, 2024)

“Soprano Michelle Bradley soared beautifully above the rest.” - Performing Arts Monterey Bay (May 10, 2024)

“Alba introduced her student and protégé, soprano Michelle Bradley. Winner of the 2014 Marilyn Horne Song Competition, she brought the house down with “Vissi d’arte” from Puccini’s Tosca. She was rewarded with an extended standing ovation.” - Culture Map Houston

 

Watch… and listen to the Bradley voice: