Edith Dowd
mezzo-soprano
Tennessee native Edith Dowd made her New York City Opera debut as Effie in THE BALLAD OF BABY DOE. Her many roles with the company include Third Lady in THE MAGIC FLUTE, Pitti-Sing in THE MIKADO, Marcellina in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO, Annina in LA TRAVIATA, and Mrs. Sangupta in the world premier of Wuorinen’s HAROUN AND THE SEA OF STORIES. Recent engagements include 1st Secretary NIXON IN CHINA for the Princeton Festival.
Ms.Dowd appeared with Santa Fe Opera as the second maid in ELEKTRA, and as Lucy Lockit in BEGGAR’S OPERA. Other roles include Ruth in PIRATES OF PENZANCE with Sacramento Opera, and the title role in CARMEN with New York’s Bellayre Music Festival as well as with Pacific Repertory Opera.
She made her European debut at the acclaimed Spoleto Festival in Spoleto, Italy in the role of Juno in SEMELE, which lead to an invitation by famed composer and festival founder Gian Carlos Menotti to perform the role of Mme Flora in his opera THE MEDIUM, directed by the composer. Ms Dowd appeared as guest artist with the Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg Festival, Germany. She also appeared as Maddalena in RIGOLETTO with The American Opera Theatre at the National Theater in Taipei, Taiwan. Other international credits include Orphee in the Les Amis du Lyrique en Bretagne production of ORPHÉE ET EURYDICE, Mary in DER FLIEGENDE HOLLANDER with the Tokyo City Symphony in Tokyo, Japan, Pauline in the world premiere of THE SEAGULL in Szeged, Hungary.
Most recent appearances include Marcelina in MARRIAGE OF FIGARO with Long Island Opera, Amneris in AIDA with New York Lyric Artists, 1st maid in ELEKTRA with Create Opera, Berio’s Folk Songs and Beethoven’s 9th symphony with Santa Rosa Symphony, an encore performance of the Berio Folk Songs with members of the Santa Rosa Symphony at the Moke Hill Music Festival, as well as the role of Azucena in IL TROVATORE with New Rochelle Opera.
Recent performances include Verdi’s Requiem with San Francisco Choral Society at Davies Symphony Hall, Mary in DER FLIEGENDE HOLLANDER with Livermore Opera, and as alto soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Dowd is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and a recipient of The Gerda Lissner Foundation Award. In April of 2018 she sang the Rachmaninoff Vespers with the San Francisco Choral Society
