Dana Beth Miller, mezzo-soprano

Biography

As a soprano, Dana Beth Miller was engaged by the leading opera houses in the United States including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Dallas Opera, Seattle Opera, and Cincinnati Opera, among many others.

Ms. Miller enters the next phase of her career as a mezzo-soprano, preparing such roles as Carmen, Dalila, Princess Eboli in Don Carlo, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, and Amneris in Aida.

Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as "the evening's biggest find," Dana Beth Miller’s powerful voice, dynamic stage presence, and commitment to the sung text have earned her continual national acclaim. As Desdemona in a recent performance of Verdi's Otello (her final performance as a soprano), critic Ben Allaway wrote, "Desdemona was played by Dana Beth Miller, a drop-dead gorgeous young soprano with an equally voluptuous tone. Add fine acting skills and you have quite a performer, utterly captivating in her sincerity and devotion to Otello...Her 'Willow Song" was masterful in her voice's ability to evoke her character's vulnerability and virtue." Mark Thomas Ketterson of Opera News adds, "Whatever the genre, Desdemona can potentially steal the evening as Dana Beth Miller nearly did here. Her opulent spinto crowned the ensembles with a laser-bright gleam, and the pianissimo employed for the exposed final ascent in the 'Ave Maria' was ravishing."

During the 2006-2007 season, Ms. Miller returned to New York City Opera for Musetta in La Boheme and debuted with Seattle Opera as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. She covered the First Lady in Die Zauberflote for the Metropolitan Opera and performed the same role for Portland Opera in the late spring. Ms. Miller finished the season with her first Desdemona in Verdi's Otello with both Des Moines Metro Opera and Sacramento Opera. Her most recent operatic appearances include her San Francisco Opera debut as Lillian Russell in The Mother of Us All, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Cincinnati Opera and Austin Lyric Opera, First Lady in Die Zauberflöte with Dallas Opera and Magda Sorel in Menotti's The Consul with Arizona Opera. She recently won first place in the 2004 Jensen Foundation Voice Competition, won second prize in the 2006 Elardo International Opera Competition, took third prize in both the 2003 Opera Index Career Grant Competition and the 2003 Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition, and was a finalist in the 2005 and 2006 Richard Tucker Career Grant Competition.

Ms. Miller's concert appearances during the 2005-2006 season included Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Pacific Symphony, a Southeastern Festival of Song Recital in Atlanta, and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The 2004-2005 concert season included her Carnegie Hall debut as the soprano soloist in Faure's Requiem, Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 at Alice Tully Hall, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Sinfonia da Camera and Chorus, and a Schwabacher debut recital in San Francisco.

During the 2002-2003 season, Ms. Miller was heard as Marguerite in Faust at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and debuted with the Utah Opera as Mary Willis Tweedy in Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree. Her appearances in the 2001-2002 season included her debut with New York City Opera as Eve’s Daughter in the world premiere of Deborah Drattell’s Lilith, both Giorgetta in Il Tabarro and Nella in Gianni Schicchi with Des Moines Metro Opera, and the title role in Lucrezia Borgia with the Academy of Vocal Arts. Additional engagements include her debut with the Washington Opera as Ann Putnam in a new production of The Crucible, the High Priestess in Aida with the Dallas Opera, both Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus with the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program and Western Opera Theater, Clärchen in Beethoven’s Egmont with the Cincinnati Symphony, Mrs. Hayes in Susannah with the Kentucky Opera, and both Corinna in Il Viaggo a Reims and the title role in Suor Angelica with the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.

Dana Beth Miller took third place in the 2004 Eleanor Lieber Awards at Portland Opera, first place in the 2003 Florida Grand Opera Voice Competition, second place in the 2001 Palm Beach Opera Competition, first place in the National Opera Association Competition, as well as several district and regional awards in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She has received Career Development Grants from both the Dallas Opera and the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, and has been a multiple grant nominee for the Richard Tucker Foundation. Ms. Miller holds a bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance from the University of North Texas, did her Master of Music studies at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and her post-graduate work at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.