Praised as a “warm, colorful mezzo” by Opera News, French mezzo-soprano Sophie Michaux has become one of North-America’s most versatile and compelling vocalists. Born in London and raised in the French alps, Sophie’s unique background informs her artistic identity, making her feel at home in an eclectic span of repertoire ranging from grand opera to French cabaret songs.
A consummate singing actor, Sophie is known for her committed portrayals of a wide variety of demanding roles on the opera stage. Sophie recently appeared as Alcina in Caccini’s La Liberation di Ruggiero dall’Isola d’Alcina (Haymarket Opera Company), Olofernes in Scarlatti’s La Giuditta (Haymarket Opera Company), and Ceres in Boston Early Music Festival’s production of Lalande’s rarely-staged Les Fontaines de Versailles, garnering acclaim from the Boston Musical Intelligencer for her “astonishing range and flexibility.” She has sung the title roles in Rinaldo (Boston Opera Collaborative), La Cenerentola (NEMPAC), and The Rape of Lucretia (Opera Brittenica). Sophie has enjoyed the challenge of interpreting a number of modern and contemporary opera roles, among them Anne in To Hell and Back by Jake Heggie (Boston Opera Collaborative), Mrs. Soames in Our Town by Ned Rorem (Boston Opera Collaborative), Higuchi in Troubled Water by Mischa Salkind-Pearl (Guerilla Opera), and Ceres in The Tempest by Joseph Summer (The Shakespeare Concerts).
Sophie is also a sought-after soloist on the concert platform. Recent solo engagements include: Soloist in the World Premiere of Kevin Siegfried’s arrangement of Three Shaker Songs (Boston Symphony Chamber Players), Clorinda in Monteverdi’s Il Combattimento di Tancredi e di Clorinda (A Far Cry), Mezzo soloist in Rameau’s Orphée (Les Délices), DeFalla’s El Amor Brujo (Lowell Chamber Orchestra), Mozart’s Coronation Mass (Dartmouth College Handel Society), Handel’s Dixit Dominos (Upper Valley Baroque), Pallas in Eccles The Judgement of Paris (Aston Magna), Messiah (New England Classical Singers), the wold-premiere Paul Rudoi’s Transcendental Passion (Boston Cecilia), Beethoven’s Mass in C (Chorus of Westerly), Bach Magnificat (New England Classical Singers), Handel’s Messiah (Trinity Church of Boston), Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle (Metropolitan Chorale), and many others.
Sophie is a member of the Lorelei Ensemble and of Blue Heron, with whom she has toured around the USA. She has collaborated with many ensembles and orchestras around the US including: Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Haymarket Opera Company, Roomful of Teeth, Les Délices, Bach Collegium San Diego, Dartmouth College Handel Society, Palaver Strings, Ruckus, Upper Valley Baroque, Lowell Chamber Orchestra, Aston Magna and others. She can be heard on recordings with the Boston Early Music Festival, Blue Heron, the Lorelei Ensemble, Palaver Strings, La Cappella Mediterranea, The Revels, The Shakespeare Concerts, and Northern Harmony.
Ms. Michaux’s numerous awards include the William Grogan Award in the 2022 Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo, and the 2nd place at the 2021 Handel Aria Competition. She was also a finalist in the 2022 Opera Columbus’ Cooper-Bing Competition.
In addition to classical music, Sophie is passionate about performing folk music, world music, and popular song literature. She founded Tiny Glass Tavern, an eclectic cross genre ensemble that will release its first album under the PARMA Recordings label in 2025, and Sophie et Adam a folk music duo with guitarist and singer Adam Jacob Simon, which recently presented an Edith Piaf Tribute Night at Cambridge’s Club Passim. She is also the co-founder of Culomba, a world music vocal ensemble that audaciously brings together audiences to experience the beauty and diversity of vocal music from very disparate styles, time periods, and regions.
A consummate singing actor, Sophie is known for her committed portrayals of a wide variety of demanding roles on the opera stage. Sophie recently appeared as Alcina in Caccini’s La Liberation di Ruggiero dall’Isola d’Alcina (Haymarket Opera Company), Olofernes in Scarlatti’s La Giuditta (Haymarket Opera Company), and Ceres in Boston Early Music Festival’s production of Lalande’s rarely-staged Les Fontaines de Versailles, garnering acclaim from the Boston Musical Intelligencer for her “astonishing range and flexibility.” She has sung the title roles in Rinaldo (Boston Opera Collaborative), La Cenerentola (NEMPAC), and The Rape of Lucretia (Opera Brittenica). Sophie has enjoyed the challenge of interpreting a number of modern and contemporary opera roles, among them Anne in To Hell and Back by Jake Heggie (Boston Opera Collaborative), Mrs. Soames in Our Town by Ned Rorem (Boston Opera Collaborative), Higuchi in Troubled Water by Mischa Salkind-Pearl (Guerilla Opera), and Ceres in The Tempest by Joseph Summer (The Shakespeare Concerts).
Sophie is also a sought-after soloist on the concert platform. Recent solo engagements include: Soloist in the World Premiere of Kevin Siegfried’s arrangement of Three Shaker Songs (Boston Symphony Chamber Players), Clorinda in Monteverdi’s Il Combattimento di Tancredi e di Clorinda (A Far Cry), Mezzo soloist in Rameau’s Orphée (Les Délices), DeFalla’s El Amor Brujo (Lowell Chamber Orchestra), Mozart’s Coronation Mass (Dartmouth College Handel Society), Handel’s Dixit Dominos (Upper Valley Baroque), Pallas in Eccles The Judgement of Paris (Aston Magna), Messiah (New England Classical Singers), the wold-premiere Paul Rudoi’s Transcendental Passion (Boston Cecilia), Beethoven’s Mass in C (Chorus of Westerly), Bach Magnificat (New England Classical Singers), Handel’s Messiah (Trinity Church of Boston), Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle (Metropolitan Chorale), and many others.
Sophie is a member of the Lorelei Ensemble and of Blue Heron, with whom she has toured around the USA. She has collaborated with many ensembles and orchestras around the US including: Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Haymarket Opera Company, Roomful of Teeth, Les Délices, Bach Collegium San Diego, Dartmouth College Handel Society, Palaver Strings, Ruckus, Upper Valley Baroque, Lowell Chamber Orchestra, Aston Magna and others. She can be heard on recordings with the Boston Early Music Festival, Blue Heron, the Lorelei Ensemble, Palaver Strings, La Cappella Mediterranea, The Revels, The Shakespeare Concerts, and Northern Harmony.
Ms. Michaux’s numerous awards include the William Grogan Award in the 2022 Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo, and the 2nd place at the 2021 Handel Aria Competition. She was also a finalist in the 2022 Opera Columbus’ Cooper-Bing Competition.
In addition to classical music, Sophie is passionate about performing folk music, world music, and popular song literature. She founded Tiny Glass Tavern, an eclectic cross genre ensemble that will release its first album under the PARMA Recordings label in 2025, and Sophie et Adam a folk music duo with guitarist and singer Adam Jacob Simon, which recently presented an Edith Piaf Tribute Night at Cambridge’s Club Passim. She is also the co-founder of Culomba, a world music vocal ensemble that audaciously brings together audiences to experience the beauty and diversity of vocal music from very disparate styles, time periods, and regions.
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Conductors
Thomas Adès Leonardo García Alarcón Marin Alsop Celso Antunes David Angus Steven Asbury Adam Boyles Simon Carrington Orlando Cela Tiffany Chang Filippo Ciabatti Federico Cortese Jean-Marie Curti Gabriel Garrido Lisa Graham Giancarlo Guerrero Brett Hodgdon David Hodgkins Andrew Howell Fred Jodry Stefano Lano François López-Ferrer Colin Lynch Scott Metcalfe Andris Nelsons Paul O’Dette Tim Ribchester Gil Rose Robert Russell Michael Sakir Stephen Stubbs Craig Trompeter Ruben Valenzuela Richard Webster Beth Willer Lidiya Yankovskaya *future performances |
Opera Houses/Concert Halls
Baldwin Auditorium, NC Baryshnikov Arts Center, NY Boston Symphony Hall, MA Caffè Lena, NY Carnegie Hall, NY Caramoor Centre, NY Cathédrale St Pierre, Switzerland Central Square Theatre, MA Chicago Symphony Center, IL Cincinnati's Music Hall, OH Club Passim, MA Corpus Christi Church, NY Davies Symphony Hall, CA Distler Hall, MA Durgin Hall, MA Faneuil Hall, MA Fondazione Cini, Italy George Kent Hall, RI Grand Théatre de Genève, Switzerland Huntington Theatre, MA Jarvis Opera Hall, IL Jordan Hall, MA Kilbourn Hall, NY Knafel Center, MA Koussevitzy Music Shed, MA Lutheran Church in Honolulu, HI Mahaiwe, MA Musée-Château d’Annecy, France Pickman Hall, MA Plainfield Opera House, VT Sanders Theatre, MA Schermerhron Symphony Center, TN Seiji Ozawa Hall, MA The Sendesaal, Germany Shalin Liu Performance Center, MA Spaulding Auditorium, NH Somerville Theatre, MA Southern Theatre, OH Trinity Church of Boston, MA Weill Recital Hall, NY Weis Center, PA Westminster Abbey, UK Winchester Cathedral, UK Voxman Concert Hall, IA Victoria Hall, Switzerland Zack Box Theatre, MA |
Collaborations
A Far Cry Aston Magna Bach Collegium San Diego Blue Heron Boston Early Music Festival Boston Lyric Opera Boston Opera Collaborative Boston Percussion Ensemble Boston Symphony Orchestra Cappella Mediterranea Capital City Concerts Chicago Symphony Orchestra ChoralArt Chorus of Westerly Culomba Dartmouth College Handel Society Ensemble Elyma Guerilla Opera Haymarket Opera In Stile Moderno Les Délices Lorelei Ensemble Long&Away Lowell Chamber Orchestra Metropolitan Chorale Musicians of the Old Post Road Nashville Symphony Orchestra New England Classical Singers NEMPAC Palaver Strings The Revels Roomful of Teeth Ruckus San Francisco Symphony Orchestra Seven Times Salt The Shakespeare Concerts Tiny Glass Tavern Upper Valley Baroque Stage Directors
Gilbert Blin Jim Findley Anne Kauffman Sarah Edgar David Lefkowich Allegra Libonati Joshua Major Rebecca Miller Roxana Myhrum Dona Roll Greg Smucker Eve Summer Patrick Swanson Gisele Ty Aria Umezawa Patricia Weinmann |
Photo credit: Anja Schütz