Elizabeth DeShong

Mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong’s recent and upcoming appearances include returns to the Metropolitan Opera and the Royal Opera for performances as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly; Bradamante in Handel's Alcina with The English Concert; Calbo in Rossini's Maometto II with Washington Concert Opera; and Odoardo Douglas in Mercadante's Il Proscritto with Opera Rara, She last performed with Music of the Baroque in April 2022.

Past performances include the role of Adalgisa in Norma with the North Carolina Opera, a recital for Vocal Arts, D.C., John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and as soloist in Handel's Messiah with the San Francisco and Houston Symphonies. Additional highlights include her debuts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Ariel in Sibelius' The Tempest, the Philadelphia Orchestra in Rossini's Stabat Mater, and a tour of Europe and the United States with The English Concert in which she portrayed both Juno and Ino in Handel's Semele. She also performed the Verdi Requiem with the Minnesota Orchestra, and Sesto in a new production of La clemenza di Tito with the Los Angeles Opera.

Elizabeth DeShong has performed extensively throughout the world with such companies as San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Canadian Opera Company, English National Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Glyndebourne, and Aix-en-Provence. She has appeared in concert with ensembles including the Cleveland Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Flemish Orchestra.

On DVD, Elizabeth DeShong can be seen as Hermia in the Metropolitan Opera’s pastiche opera The Enchanted Island (Virgin), and as Maffio Orsini in San Francisco Opera’s production of Lucrezia Borgia on EuroArts Music and Naxos. Her recording of Handel’s Messiah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Sir Andrew Davis was recently released on Chandos.

Elizabeth DeShong performs in The St. Matthew Passion on April 2 and 3.