Liz Pearse

Liz Pearse delights in untangling the gnarliest musical knots. Possessing an intimidating set of skills, a penchant for novelty, and “a voice made of arrows forged in a volcanic pit, transforming the didactic and mundanely intellectual into actual fire”, Liz is known by most as a performer of deadly accuracy who produces a beautiful sound – and lots of it. Her unusually flexible and colorful voice lends itself to a variety of repertoire from medieval to modern, but she is most often found performing music by living composers, having premiered countless works of vocal music by composers from around the world.

Though she has mostly retired from the opera stage, Liz enjoyed performing as a soloist in Turandot performances with Michigan Opera Theatre and Toledo Opera, and she also sang with the acclaimed Lyric Opera of Kansas City. She has originated several contemporary operatic roles including Vassa in The Winter Dog (2019) and Felix in The Strange Child (2022), as well as reveling in older shows - singing the title role of The Merry Widow, La Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, and Countess Charlotte in A Little Night Music, among other characters.

As an active chamber and choral musician, Liz has enjoyed invitations to perform at festivals and venues around Europe and North America. In spring 2025, she made her Ordway debut in the Twin Cities singing Osvaldo Golijov's Oceana under the baton of Dr. Ahmed Anzaldúa with Border CrosSing Choir, an ensemble she is privileged to work with as a soloist and chorister. Most recently internationally, she sang concerts in Luzern and Wittnau, Switzerland with Damselfly Trio, and summer 2023 brought her debut performances in Mexico performing with Quince on the Festival de Mayo in Guadalajara and with Cepromusic in Mexico City, where she performed as the alto soloist in György Ligeti’s Aventures/Nouvelles Aventures.

Past highlights include Berio’s Coro with the Lucerne Festival Academy under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle; a tour of Ireland and Northern Ireland performing the music of composer Ryan Molloy; the Polish premiere of love fail with Quince on the KODY Festiwal; the Bang on a Can Long Play festival, the Toronto Electroacoustic Symposium, countless university residencies around the United States; and recording sessions in Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, San Diego, and Minneapolis.

Liz often performs self-accompanied at the piano. She has commissioned and performed over a dozen works for solo singer/pianist, and her dissertation discusses the practice in relation to Roger Reynolds’ Sketchbook for The Unbearable Lightness of Being, recently recorded and released on the double album For a Reason with Neuma Records.

Though self-accompanying is a large part of her practice, Liz has a voracious appetite for the camaraderie of chamber music. In addition to her work with Swiss/USA-based Damselfly Trio and collaborations with pianists performing the vocal music of Messiaen, Babbitt, and a range of other fascinating composers, Liz is one-fourth of Quince Ensemble, an American Midwest-based treble quartet dedicated to the creation and performance of contemporary vocal literature.

When she’s not performing elsewhere, Liz lives and teaches in the beautiful Driftless region of Minnesota. More information about Liz can be found at lizpearse.com