About Michaela
Heralded by the Brooklyn Discovery, as “visually and vocally another bright ray,” Michaela Larsen has a voice that is “plangent [and] coupled with excellent stagecraft”. She has appeared as Adele in Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus, Nella in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Eurydice in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, and Vitellia in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito. In the summer of 2019, Ms. Larsen was a Young Artist in Martina Arroyo’s "Prelude to Performance" production of Die Fledermaus in New York City, and in 2021, she performed with Chicago Summer Opera’s production of one of Mozart’s earliest operas, Lucio Silla. Her work as a concert soloist includes Handel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42, and Mozart’s Requiem.
In 2021, Ms. Larsen returned to New York to pursue a Master’s in Vocal Performance at Stony Brook University, where she pivoted from soprano to mezzo-soprano and has enjoyed many bold new roles and daring repertoire. She returned to Stony Brook in Fall of 2023 to pursue her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance. She has been awarded a competitive scholarship and coveted role as a Teaching Assistant and Undergraduate TA Voice Coordinator. Recent credits include: Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) with Sunnyside Opera in Tampa, Florida, Stony Brook Opera Theatre, Vienna Summer Music Festival; Hermia (Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) with Chicago Summer Opera; the title role in Gustav Holst’s Sāvitri; Lillas Pastia in Bizet/Brook’s La Tragédie de Carmen; Venus in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis; Nancy in Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring with Stony Brook Opera Theatre. Her most recent appearance was in Michael Ching’s Notes on Viardot, a whimsical historical account on the life and loves of the illustrious Pauline Viardot. Ms. Larsen portrayed the diva herself in the third performance of the work at Music OnSite in Wichita, Kansas in December 2024, receiving high praise from the composer himself for her interpretation of the role.An avid recitalist and chamber musician, Ms. Larsen traverses varying styles with technical ease and compelling artistry. Her chamber repertoire includes György Kurtag’s Kafka Fragmente, Gioachino Scelsi’s avant garde masterwork Khoom, Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Monteverdi’s baroque jewel Lamento d’Arianna, and Luciano Berio’s Circles. Her devotion to new music is apparent in her creative partnerships with living composers–she has premiered three works by Michigan-based composer-flutist, Jeremy Makkonen (The Garden, To…, Wild Nights!), collaborated with violinist-composer Rachel Lee Zhao on her multi-media composition (Parabellum), and recently performed as part of the Watermill Center’s Annual Summer Benefit as a human vocal component in Dai Asano’s installation–Passages.
Ms. Larsen also appears frequently with the New York Philharmonic Chorus, where in the 2022-23 season, she sang the world premiere of Angélica Negron’s You Are the Prelude, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Adolphus Hailstork’s Done Made My Vow. In the 2023-24 season, she appeared in the New York Philharmonic’s United States premiere of Aaron Zigman’s oratorio Èmigré, as well as the bittersweet farewell to Music Director Jaap van Zweden–Mahler’s 2nd Symphony. Ms. Larsen made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the company’s acclaimed Verdi Requiem in September 2023, and will return in the 2024-25 season in Beethoven’s Fidelio.
Ms. Larsen is a student of Brenda Harris, to whom she extends eternal gratitude for their guidance and mentorship.
Her teaching experience ranges across age groups–from elementary to adult and is inclusive of private instruction in voice, classroom choral education, and music literacy. Her students have succeeded in competitions, in composing and performing their own works, and in finding their own voices to express themselves authentically.
At the heart of her teaching, Ms. Larsen believes in cultivating an affirming and supportive studio environment to foster community and creative freedom through the human voice.
In 2021, Ms. Larsen returned to New York to pursue a Master’s in Vocal Performance at Stony Brook University, where she pivoted from soprano to mezzo-soprano and has enjoyed many bold new roles and daring repertoire. She returned to Stony Brook in Fall of 2023 to pursue her Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance. She has been awarded a competitive scholarship and coveted role as a Teaching Assistant and Undergraduate TA Voice Coordinator. Recent credits include: Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) with Sunnyside Opera in Tampa, Florida, Stony Brook Opera Theatre, Vienna Summer Music Festival; Hermia (Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) with Chicago Summer Opera; the title role in Gustav Holst’s Sāvitri; Lillas Pastia in Bizet/Brook’s La Tragédie de Carmen; Venus in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis; Nancy in Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring with Stony Brook Opera Theatre. Her most recent appearance was in Michael Ching’s Notes on Viardot, a whimsical historical account on the life and loves of the illustrious Pauline Viardot. Ms. Larsen portrayed the diva herself in the third performance of the work at Music OnSite in Wichita, Kansas in December 2024, receiving high praise from the composer himself for her interpretation of the role.An avid recitalist and chamber musician, Ms. Larsen traverses varying styles with technical ease and compelling artistry. Her chamber repertoire includes György Kurtag’s Kafka Fragmente, Gioachino Scelsi’s avant garde masterwork Khoom, Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Monteverdi’s baroque jewel Lamento d’Arianna, and Luciano Berio’s Circles. Her devotion to new music is apparent in her creative partnerships with living composers–she has premiered three works by Michigan-based composer-flutist, Jeremy Makkonen (The Garden, To…, Wild Nights!), collaborated with violinist-composer Rachel Lee Zhao on her multi-media composition (Parabellum), and recently performed as part of the Watermill Center’s Annual Summer Benefit as a human vocal component in Dai Asano’s installation–Passages.
Ms. Larsen also appears frequently with the New York Philharmonic Chorus, where in the 2022-23 season, she sang the world premiere of Angélica Negron’s You Are the Prelude, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Adolphus Hailstork’s Done Made My Vow. In the 2023-24 season, she appeared in the New York Philharmonic’s United States premiere of Aaron Zigman’s oratorio Èmigré, as well as the bittersweet farewell to Music Director Jaap van Zweden–Mahler’s 2nd Symphony. Ms. Larsen made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the company’s acclaimed Verdi Requiem in September 2023, and will return in the 2024-25 season in Beethoven’s Fidelio.
Ms. Larsen is a student of Brenda Harris, to whom she extends eternal gratitude for their guidance and mentorship.
Her teaching experience ranges across age groups–from elementary to adult and is inclusive of private instruction in voice, classroom choral education, and music literacy. Her students have succeeded in competitions, in composing and performing their own works, and in finding their own voices to express themselves authentically.
At the heart of her teaching, Ms. Larsen believes in cultivating an affirming and supportive studio environment to foster community and creative freedom through the human voice.
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