Michele Kennedy

Praised as “an excellent and impassioned” soprano possessing “a graceful tonal clarity that is a wonder to hear” (San Francisco Chronicle), Michele Kennedy is a versatile specialist in early and contemporary music. Her recent concert venues include Carnegie Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, The Getty Museum, Lincoln Center, and Washington National Cathedral.

Michele has been a featured soloist in Bach’s St. John Passion with Voices of Music and The San Francisco Symphony Chorus, Handel’s Messiah with Trinity Wall Street Choir, Poulenc’s Gloria and Messiah with The Bach Society of Saint Louis, Undine Smith Moore’s MLK Oratorio at U.C. Berkeley, and selected Bach Cantatas with American Classical Orchestra. In demand across the country, Michele recently debuted with Portland Baroque Orchestra in the ‘Summer Fireworks’ of Handel and Purcell, with San Francisco Ballet in Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, and in her Carnegie Hall mainstage debut with The Hollywood Film Orchestra. Her singing is highlighted on two upcoming new albums: Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 with The Thirteen and Dark Horse Consort, and In Her Hands with AGAVE Baroque, featuring pieces by trailblazing female composers from over the ages.

A lifelong advocate of new works, Michele has sung premieres with Experiments in Opera, Harlem Stage Opera, Mimesis Ensemble, Five Boroughs Music Festival, and The New York Philharmonic.  This season, she is traveling with Lorelei Ensemble in a world premiere tour of Julia Wolfe’s Her Story – an outspoken celebration of women’s civil rights – in concert with the Nashville, Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras. She is also a member of Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble: a group of early and contemporary music specialists that champions the voices of women and artists of color on the stage, and in the field at large.

Michele completed her musical studies at Yale University, Yale School of Music, and New York University. A lover of redwood groves and bay vistas, she lives in Oakland with her husband, visual artist Benjamin Thorpe, and their daughter, Audra May. Please find more at www.michele-kennedy.com