One judge commented on her win, “She truly committed
to the EMOTIONAL arc of the piece, her intonation was CLEAR
and beautiful. She... was truly ENGAGING.
She was easily the BEST performer of the evening.”
American Mezzo Soprano Michelle Monroe has been praised for her rich tone and musical phrasing. Recent performances include Feri in Die Csárdásfürstin with Opera on the Lake, the Southwind in Mister Twister and the Tale of Tornado Alley with Opera Kansas, Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus and Dorabella in Così fan tutte with Music on Site, Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance with Cedar Rapids Opera, and numerous concert and recital performances. Michelles spent two seasons as an Apprentice Artist with Central City Opera, making her role debut as Maddalena in Verdi’s Rigoletto. Her other engagements with Central City Opera included covering the spunky role of Carrie in Carousel at the Hudson Gardens and performing Second Woman in the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Young Artist production of Dido and Aeneas at the Central City Opera House Gardens. She also spent two seasons as a young artist with Cedar Rapids Opera and enjoys returning to work with the company for other engagements.
“Mezzo-soprano Michelle Monroe, a current apprentice artist, plays the assassin’s sister and co-conspirator Maddalena… Monroe makes the most of it, contributing strongly to the familiar seduction quartet and convincingly delivering a crucial plot point–her successful petition to her brother to avoid murdering the duke.” Read full review here!
Michelle appears frequently in recital and as a soloist with regional orchestras. Her recent concert work includes Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra; Christmas on the Prairie with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra; Requiem in D Minor (Mozart), Messiah (Handel), Ein Deutsches Requiem (Brahms), and Lord Nelson Mass (Haydn) with the Grinnell Oratorio Society; and Theresienmesse (Haydn) with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony. She was also featured on a recent recording of James Stephenson’s Dialogue of Self and Soul with the Northern Iowa Wind Ensemble with Cayla Bellamy, bassoon.
Michelle earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota. After graduating, she taught K-12 general and vocal music for two years in the public schools. She later attended the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) for the Master of Music in Vocal Performance, during which she earned first place at the UNI Graduate Symposium two consecutive years for her research and performance of selections from Aaron Copland’s Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson and Jake Heggie’s Eve-Song. For her performance of Jake Heggie’s Eve-Song, one judge commented, “She truly committed to the emotional arc of the piece, her intonation was clear and beautiful. She... was truly engaging. She was easily the best performer of the evening.”
Having an affinity for American vocal music, Michelle has enjoyed performing Jeremy Beck’s monodrama Black Water along with a number of his art songs. The composer commented on her performance of Black Water, saying her voice was “just glorious...its range, nuance, and beauty - [her] command of dramatic shape and musical details… all just marvelous.” Jeremy Beck wrote four songs for Michelle, which she premiered on March 8, 2022 with Dr. Robin Guy, piano. Beck’s album “Remember” is available here.
Michelle lives in Cedar Falls, Iowa where she is an instructor of voice at the University of Northern Iowa and is working toward her DMA at the University of Iowa. When she’s not singing, Michelle loves to spend time outside gardening or hiking with her husband, son, and two dogs.