Soprano Laquita Mitchell consistently earns acclaim in eminent opera companies throughout North America and Europe. Already in her young career, she has led performances with the Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, Washington National Opera, Opéra Comique in Paris, among many others.

In her compelling 2009 portrayal as Bess in Porgy and Bess, Opera News said “Soprano Laquita Mitchell, in her first outing as Bess, dazzled the SFO [San Francisco Opera] audience with her purity of tone and vivid theatrical presence.” Next, she reprises the role of Bess at the Atlanta Opera, and performs Mimì in La Bohème at the Utah Symphony and Opera and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at Opera New Jersey.

Most recent engagements include the role of Sharon in Terrance McNally’s Master Class at the Kennedy Center; her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as Clara in Porgy and Bess and Cio-Cio San cover in Madama Butterfly; Musetta in La Bohème in a return to the Los Angeles Opera; Leonora in Il Trovatore with Nashville Opera; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Florentine Opera and Portland Opera; Micaëla in Carmen with New York City Opera and the former Opera Pacific; Bess in Porgy and Bess at the San Francisco Opera and New Jersey State Opera; and Clara in Porgy and Bess with the Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, Opéra Comique in Paris and on tour in Caen and Granada, Spain.

Also active as a concert artist, Ms. Mitchell most recently performed Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Louisville Orchestra, the world premiere of composer Steven Stucky’s August 4, 1964 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut as the soprano soloist in Wynton Marsalis’ All Rise, under the direction of Kurt Masur, and the soprano solo in Tippett’s A Child of our Time with the Washington Chorus at Kennedy Center. She has also performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, the New York Symphonic Ensemble at Alice Tully Hall, and with Branford Marsalis and the Garden State Philharmonic.

Ms. Mitchell is an alumna of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, where she performed a variety of roles including Orquidea in Daniel Catan’s Salsipuedes (world premiere), Myhrrine in Mark Adamo’s Lysistrata (world premiere), the First Lady in The Magic Flute, Barena in David Alden’s production of Jen_fa, Valencienne in The Merry Widow, Javotte in Manon, and The Water in Rachel Portman’s The Little Prince (world premiere), directed by Francesca Zambello and conducted by Patrick Summers. Also that season, she made her debut with the Cincinnati Opera as Mimi in La Bohème.

Ms. Mitchell was previously a member of the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, where she sang the role of Mimì in La Bohème, and she joined Wolf Trap Opera in performances as Alice Ford in Antonio Salieri’s Falstaff, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and presented a recital with renowned pianist Steven Blier.

A native of New York City, soprano Laquita Mitchell was a 2004 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grand Prize Winner, and was awarded a 2004 Sara Tucker Award recipient. She was also the First Prize Winner of the Wiener Kammer Oper’s 2003 Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition, making her the first American to win this competition in over twenty years. Additionally, in February 2002, Ms. Mitchell was the First Prize Winner of the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, as well as the winner of the Audience Choice award.

Ms. Mitchell completed her Masters of Music degree and the Professional Studies Certificate at the Manhattan School of Music, and also completed undergraduate studies at Westminster Choir College.