Erica Brookhyser is represented by Rayfield Allied worldwide.

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Erica Brookhyser

Mezzo-soprano

  • Erica Brookhyser sings marvellously. The duet between the entwined Aeneas and Dido is a glorious antiphonal idyll.
    Bernhard Uske, Frankfurter Runschau
  • Erica Brookhyser is once again brilliant. In a superb musical and dramatic interpretation, she embodies Dido's gentleness as well as her revengefulness.
    Thomas Wolff, Darmstädter Echo
  • The Muse has a lot to say and sing in this production. And that is fortunate, for Erica Brookhyser is the strongest singer of the evening.
    Johannes Breckner, Darmstädter Echo Zeitung
  • Sung nearly to perfection: The American Erica Brookhyser sings the large role of Orfeo.
    Eckhard Britsch, Opernnetz.de
  • A huge ovation at the final curtain for Erica Brookhyser: with a keen dramatic sensibility and a full earthy alto
    Thomas Wolff, Darmstädter Echo Zeitung
  • Erica Brookhyser gave an enthralling theatrical and musical performance of Dido. With a bright-timbred mezzo and powerful gleaming high notes, she colored her role with a variety emotional shadings.
    Manfred Langer, Der Opernfreund

  • Erica Brookhyser is currently principal mezzo in the permanent company at Staatstheater Darmstadt. A highlight of the artist’s career to date was winning the title role in Carmen as part of the German reality television show produced by the ARTE channel, Who will become Carmen?  The series, aired last summer, showed a number of artists auditioning for the title role, and preparations being made for the production.  Her live performances of Carmen took place at the newly-established Berlin Seefestspiele in August 2012.

    Now in her third season with the company, her new roles include Didon Les Troyens, Suzuki Madama Butterfly and Preziosilla La Forza del Destino; previous roles include Cherubino Le Nozze di Figaro, Fenena Nabucco, Orfeo Orfeo ed Euridice, Second Lady Die Zauberflöte and Muse/Nicklausse Les Contes d’Hoffmann.

    Miss Brookhyser originally studied Vocal Performance at the University of Oregon and New England Conservatory, and trained at the opera studios of Santa Fe Opera, Utah Opera, Central City Opera, Tanglewood Music Festival, and Los Angeles Opera’s Domingo-Thornton Young Artist Programme from 2008-2010. Since making her professional debut at Boston Lyric Opera in 2006, she has received consistently high praise for her musical artistry and acting ability.

    Other roles in the artist’s repertoire include Cendrillon Cendrillon at Central City Opera; Mercédès Carmen, cover Andronico/cover Irene Tamerlano at Los Angeles Opera; Tisbe/cover Angelina La Cenerentola, Donna Elvira Don Giovanni (cover) at Utah Opera; Myrtale Thaïs at Boston Lyric Opera; Dorabella Così fan tutte at New England Conservatory.

    The artist’s collaborators have included stage directors Achim Freyer, Chas Rader-Shieber, Marta Domingo and John Dew, as well as conductors James Conlon, Plácido Domingo, William Lacey and Steuart Bedford.

    Her work on the concert platform includes Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Mozart’s C minor Mass with the Cincinnati May Festival under the baton of James Conlon, Moses und Aron with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Levine, Zarzuela and Opera Highlights with the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra under the baton of Plácido Domingo.

    Future engagements include the role of Meg Page Falstaff at Los Angeles Opera.

    Erica Brookhyser is represented worldwide by Deborah Sanders at Rayfield Allied.
    This biography is for information only and should not be reproduced.

    • Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Staatstheater Darmstadt
      April/ May 2012

      The sympathies of the public definitely belonged to Erica Brookhyser, who portrayed an elegant Niklas with boyish, cheeky mezzo, as well as a selfishly loving Muse, who uses all means possible to win over her poet and at the right moment also pulls out her vocal claws.
      Steffan Meder, Main-Echo Zeitung
      Marvelous in both voice and physicality was the Friend-Muse "Niklas" by Erica Brookhyser.
      Bernhard Uske, Frankfurter Rundschau
      The main character, however, turns out to be surprisingly Niklas (appearing as the Muse in the Prologue and Epilogue), Hoffmann's companion. This is due to this version [...] and on the flexible, natural and expressive singing of Erica Brookhyser. The audience thanked her with the strongest ovation.
      Andreas Bomba, Frankfurter Neue Presse

    • Orfee et Euridice, Staatstheater Darmstadt
      January/ February 2012

      In the central role of Orfeo, Erica Brookhyser's mezzo-soprano is capable of taking on almost androgynously dark colours, while still sounding fresh, agile and luminescent.
      Axel Zibulski, Rhein-Mein Allgemeine Zeitung
      Particularly captivating was the freshness and grace of Erica Brookhyser, which she conveys not only through her singing, but also through her dancer's bearing in this role. She endowed Orfeo with memorable gestures, singing with the whole body lying down and in lifts and turns.
      Eva-Maria Magel, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

    • Nabucco, Staatstheater Darmstadt
      October 2011/ January 2012

      Erica Brookhyser shone for her cultivated lyrical tone as Abigaille's half-sister Fenena.
      Johannes Breckner, Darmstädter Echo Zeitung
      Erica Brookhyser (Fenena) offers touching lyricism.
      Andreas Bomba, Frankfurter Neue Presse
      Of the soloists, Fenena (Erica Brookhyser) and Abigaille (Katrin Gerstenberger) leave strong impressions.
      Bernhard Uske, Frankfurter Rundschau

    • Carmen, Staatstheater Darmstadt
      October 2010

      Erica Brookhyser embodies her own version of the title character perfectly: A beautiful woman, but without any done-up affectation, whose warmth can suddenly turn into an all-consuming blaze, and whose sensitivity, the weak spot of her pursuing lover, quickly mutates into a deadly offensive weapon. Combining an extraordinary stage presence and a powerful vocal interpretation, this mezzo-soprano is exemplary.
      Benedikt Stegemann, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
      Erica Brookhyser, like Susanna Serfling [Micaëla], boasts a beautiful voice and a natural instinct for the stage. Her gypsy, around which the entire piece revolves, is a Lover, not a Demon. Even when she hurls her "Non!" to Don José, the cast-off lover, she remains free of callousness. And when the stalker Don José in the end kills his victim, no one thinks, not even in secret, that is serves her right.
      Christian Knatz, Darmstädter Echo
      Erica Brookhyser is a magnificent Carmen. Her mezzo soprano has a timbre that casts a spell. She dominated the sold out theater, and her dance with castanets added pizzazz. At the curtain call, Brookhyser garnered vociferous Bravos.
      Manfred Merz, Gießener Allgemeine
      Flawless performance by Erica Brookhyser as Carmen. A female superman who is thoroughly graceful and savvy on stage.
      Bernhard Uske, Frankfurter Rundschau
      Erica Brookhyser dramatic approach to Carmen is enjoyable from the depths of her seamless voice to her coquettishness.
      Andreas Bomba, Frankfurter Neue Presse

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