American mezzo, Erica Brookhyser, began the 2014-15 Season in her role debut as Brigitta Die Tote Stadt in concert with Boston’s Odyssey Opera, and then joined Opera Colorado in the role of Suzuki Madama Butterfly.
Recent successes include her return to Los Angeles Opera as Meg Page Falstaff, and song recitals with the Newport Symphony. At Spoleto Festival USA her performance in a fully-staged production of El Niño by John Adams garnered excellent notices. She also received acclaim for her role debut as Brangäne Tristan und Isolde with Staatstheater Darmstadt.
A major European highlight of Erica’s career came when in 2012 she won “Open Opera: Who will become Carmen?” , a reality talent-search television show broadcast on ARTE-TV. The series, which aired in Germany and France, followed artists as they auditioned for the title role and prepared for the production, with music in the original French and dialogue in German. Erica’s live performances as Carmen took place at the Berlin Seefestspiele.
Miss Brookhyser spent two years in Los Angeles Opera’s Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Programme, and then travelled to Germany to begin a four-year tenure as principal mezzo at Staatstheater Darmstadt. Her extensive repertoire there included Didon Les Troyens, Fenena Nabucco, Cherubino Le Nozze di Figaro, Orfeo Orfeo ed Euridice, Second Lady Die Zauberflöte, Muse/Nicklausse Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Emilia Otello, Page Salome, Preziosilla La Forza del Destino, Lola Cavalleria Rusticana, Blumenmädchen Parsifal, and Wellgunde, Waltraute and Second Norn Der Ring des Nibelungen.