About
Patrice Michaels serves as coordinator for solo voice activities at the University. She provides vocal coaching for individuals performing in University Chorus, Motet Choir and the a cappella ensembles, organizes the solo vocal recitals on campus and curates two larger programs during the academic year: "Chamber Music For Voice" and "Making A Scene: Opera, Operetta and Musical Theater Scenes"
Passions for performance, for composing words and music, and for social justice define the artistry of Patrice Michaels. The breadth of Michaels’ interests are fully expressed in her project, Notorious RBG in Song, a salute to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Cedille Records) released in 2017 that has since become a live stage show. “…an engrossing, episodic portrait of the legal thinker, wife, mother and feminist icon” (WQXR), performed to date in Los Angeles, the Washington, DC, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and at the Illinois Holocaust Museum. “RESOLVED, Songs of Women’s Suffrage and the Nineteenth Amendment” premiered in August and can be seen on the National Constitution Center website, featuring mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges. Her choral work “Refuge,” debuted at the Kennedy Center in July 2019 for the Serenade Festival. Michaels is deeply committed to collaborative work, and her creation of and performance in such projects as Divas of Mozart’s Day and Intersection: Jazz Meets Classical Song has earned Michaels praise as “a formidable interpretative talent” (The New Yorker) possessing “a voice that is light, rich and flexible” (Opera News). Patrice’s singing has been featured on more than 25 albums, including the Decca, Neos, Albany and Amadis labels, and 14 releases as an artist for Cedille Records. Her eclectic nature is expressed through recent recordings such as La vie est une parade (Cedille), featuring music of Satie, Britten, and Tailleferre with the Czech National Symphony, and the work of contemporary composer Laurie Altman on Sonic Migrations (Neos) and On Course, a solo recording of the composer’s work for the Albany record label. Patrice has been featured with the Shanghai and Czech National Symphonies, in concerts for the Festival of Contemporary Music in Havana and the Maverick Festival, and has appeared with St. Louis, Atlanta and Minnesota Orchestras among many others. Patrice Michaels holds BAs in Music and Theater from Pomona College, an MFA in Voice from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and a certificate from the Music Theatre Studio Ensemble at The Banff Centre. Former Professor of Music at Lawrence University’s Conservatory of Music, Michaels now serves as Director of Vocal Studies at The University of Chicago and on the faculty of the Voice/Opera Program in Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music.