Elizabeth DeShong
Vocalists
— Mezzo-Soprano
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Manager: William G. Guerri
Management Territory: Worldwide
Elizabeth DeShong made a firm impression as Suzuki, Butterfly's no-nonsense maid, her well-cultivated mezzo-soprano voice searing through the thick orchestra to convey the ferocious anger she feels over the way her Butterfly has been abused. —Santa Fe New Mexican - July 3, 2010
American mezzo Elizabeth DeShong, making her Toronto debut as Hermia, has a stunningly rich and powerful voice. —Toronto Star - May 6, 2009
Elizabeth DeShong, as the Composer, sang with terrific expresive impact. Hers is a talent that practically shouts 'You're gonna hear from me'. —Tim Smith - Opera (UK)
About
Pennsylvania-born mezzo-soprano, Elizabeth DeShong, a graduate of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center, made her Lyric debut in the 2005-2006 season’s Der Rosenkavalier. Other performances with Lyric Opera of Chicago include Meg Page in Falstaff, the Page in Salome, and Mercedes in Carmen.
Ms. DeShong begins the 2009–2010 season in her debut with San Francisco Opera as the Page in Salome. She will be heard as Dorabella in Cosí fan tutte with Jacksonville Symphony and returns to the Metropolitan Opera where she will sing . . . High Priestess in Aida. She will make her Arizona Opera debut Rosina in Il Barbiere de Siviglia and makes her Santa Fe Opera debut to close the season as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly.
She began the 2008–2009 season with Glyndebourne on Tour as Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel. Ms. DeShong then made her debut at the Canadian Opera Company as Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She joined the Metropolitan Opera for the first time in productions of La rondine and Rusalka and concluded the season with Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Pittsburgh Symphony under Manfred Honeck. Last season, Ms. DeShong’s engagements included Rosina in Barber of Seville (student matinees) at Lyric Opera of Chicago and Ruggiero in Alcina and Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos at Wolf Trap Opera. She also performed as a soloist in Les Noces with the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center.
Recent performance credits include Meg Page at Lyric Opera of Chicago & Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Page in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of Salomé, Mercédès in Carmen (Lyric Opera of Chicago), Marilyn Klinghoffer in The Death of Klinghoffer (Perelman Theater in Philadelphia), soloist in Manuel de Falla’s El amore brujo (Ravinia Festival w/ Chicago Youth Symphony), and leading roles in operas of Purcell, Strauss, and Britten. DeShong has been a soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra in Parsifal (Pierre Boulez conducting), Debussy’s La damoiselle élue, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (Blossom Music Festival).
