LUCY DHEGRAE
SOPRANO
Lucy Dhegrae is a singer committed to changing and challenging how vocal music is perceived, performed and programmed. Hailed as an “adventurous mezzo-soprano” and “raconteur” (The New Yorker) known for her “vocal versatility and an omnivorous curiosity” (The New York Times), she moves easily between a broad variety of styles, and can be found “everywhere new music is being sung” (New York Classical Review). Dhegrae is also the founder and director of the boundary-pushing Resonant Bodies Festival (2013-2021), which was praised by The New York Times as “an annual highlight [that] gives some of the world’s most adventurous vocal artists full freedom.”
During the 2019-20 season, Dhegrae was selected among WQXR's "20 for 20 Artists to Watch” as someone "redefining what classical music can be...in thrilling ways” (WQXR), and also received the Career Advancement Award from Dawn Upshaw at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural Women in Classical Music Symposium. As Artist in Residence at National Sawdust, Dhegrae chose to present a multi-concert project entitled The Processing Series, exploring trauma’s relationship to the voice. Ultrafizz, her duo with pianist Nathaniel LaNasa, also had residencies at both Yellow Barn (Putney, VT) and Princeton University. In February 2020, Dhegrae made her New York Philharmonic debut with a new work by Paola Prestini; and in March, Dhegrae made her 92Y debut singing George Benjamin’s Into the Little Hill with Talea Ensemble.
Dhegrae is sought after as a collaborator and creator of a body of contemporary music that defies categorization of style or genre. She has worked closely with composers such as Eve Beglarian, Philippe Leroux, Jason Eckardt, Paola Prestini, Tonia Ko, Angélica Negrón, Kate Soper, Anthony Braxton, Judd Greenstein, Donnacha Dennehy, and others. Dhegrae has performed at venues including Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and Miller Theatre, with festival appearances at Mostly Mozart, Bard Music Festival, Gesher Music Festival, and many more.
Dhegrae was the 2018 recipient of University of Michigan School of Music’s Emerging Artist Award, and among the first cohort of fellows with Turn the Spotlight, a new mentorship program for young professionals. She has taught at SoundSCAPE (Cesena, Italy), Banff Centre (Alberta, Canada), and Bard College Conservatory’s Graduate Vocal Arts Program; and has been invited to present lectures at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music, CUNY’s Graduate Center, NYU, Peabody Conservatory, and William Paterson University. Since 2013 she has been a public speaker with RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, sharing her story of vocal loss and trauma recovery, and in February 2021 she will give a keynote speech at the first Music and Trauma Conference (Indiana University) about her trauma-informed journey toward physical, vocal, and artistic freedom.
For more information, visit lucydhegrae.com.
