Patricia Racette
She has performed in several world premieres, including the title role in Tobias Picker's Emmeline (1996), and as Leslie Crosby in Paul Moravec's The Letter (2009) at the Santa Fe Opera.
[3] Upon graduation from high school in 1983, Racette matriculated at the University of North Texas with the intent of studying vocal jazz.
She sang several more roles with the company while in the Merola program, including Alice Ford in Falstaff, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, Sister Osmina in Suor Angelica, and Freia and Helmwige in The Ring Cycle.
In 1991 she was made an Adler Fellow at the San Francisco Opera, which led to several more performances at the SFO over the next two years, including Micaëla in Carmen, Dunyasha in War and Peace, the First Lady in The Magic Flute, and Mimì in La bohème.
[7] In 1992 Racette joined the roster of singers at the New York City Opera, making her debut with the company as Musetta in La bohème.
She made her debut at the house on March 4, 1995, with Mary Mills as Mimì, Luis Lima as Rodolfo, Roberto Frontali [it] as Marcello, and John Fiore conducting.
Her popularity at the house grew rapidly, and she began to add more roles to her Met repertoire in the late 1990s, including Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes, Antonia/Stella in Les contes d'Hoffmann, and Violetta in La traviata.
In the 2000s she has added the roles Alice Ford in Falstaff, Blanche de la Force in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Elizabeth of Valois in Don Carlos, and Nedda in Pagliacci to her Met repertoire.
[10] In 1996 Racette had a major critical success portraying the title role in the world premiere of Tobias Picker's Emmeline for her debut at the Santa Fe Opera.
She has since returned to that house frequently, portraying Violetta (1997), Blanche de la Force (1999), Tatyana in Eugene Onegin (2002), the title role in Káťa Kabanová (2003), Amelia Grimaldi in Simon Boccanegra (2004), and Liù in Turandot (2005).
Some prior recipients of this award have been Renée Fleming (1990), Deborah Voigt (1992), Ruth Ann Swenson (1993), Dwayne Croft (1996), and David Daniels (1997).
She has since returned to Chicago numerous time to portray such roles as Mimì, Marguerite in Charles Gounod's Faust, Micaëla, Liù, and Madame Lidoine.
Although a perfectionist known for exacting standards, she dislikes analysis of opera in strictly technical terms, insisting on asking "But how does it make you feel?
