Erin Elizabeth Smith is garnering worldwide acclaim in her young mezzo soprano career. Of a recent performance at the Tanglewood Music Center, Opera News said she “brought to bear an impassioned delivery, a powerful tragic face and a powerful rich voice, impressive for accuracy of pinpoint pitch and attack.”
At the Washington National Opera, she has performed Emilia in Otello opposite Placido Domingo, Ninetta in I Vespri Siciliani under the baton of Maestro Domingo, Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Wanda in Sophie’s Choice, Mariana in Luisa Fernanda, Lydia in Scott Wheeler’s Democracy, Hänsel in Hänsel and Gretel, Giannetta in L’Elisir d’Amore, and Sesto cover in La Clemenza di Tito, all while a member of the Domingo-Cafritz young artist program.
Other notable engagements include Giulietta in Tales of Hoffmann and Flora in La Traviata with Lyrique en Mer in France; Maddalena in Rigoletto at the Teatro Pergolesi in Italy; Harper and Ethel Rosenberg in Angels in America with Fort Worth Opera; Edith in The Pirates of Penzance, Albina in Rossini’s La Donna del Lago, Annina in La Traviata, Meg Page cover in Falstaff and Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly all with New York City Opera; her role debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with the Arizona Opera; her role debut as Cecelia March in Syracuse Opera’s Little Women, and her Avery Fisher Hall debut performing in Mozart’s Requiem and Haydn’s Paukenmesse. She has appeared in Carnegie Hall as mezzo soloist in Beethoven’s Mass in C Major. This spring, she joined the Lyric Opera of Chicago for their production of The Sound of Music.
Additional recent engagements include performing with Lyrique en Mer in France as Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro and Orfee in Orfee et Eurydice; Central City Opera as Pepa in Goyescas and Zulma in L’Italiana in Algeri; and Opera Theatre of St. Louis, where she performed in the premiere production Loss of Eden. At the Tanglewood Music Center, she performed L’Enfant in L’Enfant et les Sortileges, and the leading role of Dinah in the 50th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti to critical acclaim, which was broadcast live on National Public Radio.
While at the Juilliard Opera Center, she was seen as The Cook in Le Rossignol, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte, Filotete in Handel’s Oreste, and Mrs. Grose in The Turn of the Screw. Other roles in New York City have included Fidalma in Il Matrimonio Segreto, Ragonde in Le Comte Ory and Grace in the New York premiere of Robert Ward’s Roman Fever, which was recorded and released by Albany Records.
An accomplished recital performer, Ms. Smith has performed a variety of works from German Classic lieder to 20th Century music. Venues have included the New York Festival of Song, the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, and the Westchester Philharmonic in Antonio Defeo’s premiere piece “What’s that I hear?” Oratorio work has included Cantatas in Context with the Orchestra of St. Luke. Ms. Smith is proud to be a part of Sing for Hope, an organization that was founded to provide recitals and performances to help raise money for numerous charitable causes.
