Described by The New York Times as possessing an “agile coloratura technique and a feeling for the Italianate style… with warmth, full penetrating sound and tenderness,” American soprano Leah Crocetto continues to astonish audiences with her moving portrayals of opera’s greatest heroines.
The 2022/23 season for Ms. Crocetto began with her San Diego Symphony debut in Giuseppe Verdi’s breathtaking Requiem under the baton of Rafael Payare. She also returned to the Metropolitan Opera and Opera Australia as Aida, receiving critical acclaim from the Sydney Morning Herald raving, “Leah Crocetto as Aida has a voice of enveloping power and warmth” and Theatre Travels saying, “She is beautiful and effervescent in this role. Her rendition of “O, Patria mia” was soul-stirringly good.”
She made her debut as the fiendish role of Odabella in Attila at Teatro Petruzelli. In recital, she appeared at the Butler School of Music in Austin, Texas, where she is currently on faculty as a Lecturer in Vocal Arts. Leah also toured with her newly founded duo Momenti, featuring pianist Ronny Michael Greenberg for their first concerts in San Francisco, Napa, and her native Adrian, Michigan. Aiming to create unique and empowering music, performing genre-less, yet extensive, rich, and innovative repertoire, they released their first EP in February 2023.
Ms. Crocetto’s 2021/22 season saw her make debuts with Toledo Opera as Leonora in Verdi’s Il trovatore, Teatro Petruzzelli in the title role of Aida, and Washington Concert Opera as Anna from Rossini’s Maometto II. Additionally, she returned to Opera Australia, where she reprised Leonora in Il trovatore at the Sydney Opera House and later joined the company in Melbourne for concert performances of Boito’s Mefistofele as Margherita. In concert, she performed at The Croswell in Adrian, Michigan, to celebrate the return of live performances, and sang a recital with her longtime collaborator, pianist Mark Markham, at the Lexington Bach Festival.
In the 2020/21 season, Leah made her highly anticipated debut at Opera Australia, starring as the title role in Davide Livermore’s thrilling production of Aida. Her portrayal was hailed as a “revelation,” with Stage Whispers praising that “nothing can truly prepare one to hear such stunning vocal control in person. A perfect, sudden pianissimo, deftly deployed in O, Patria mia!, was just one of the many moments that had the audience spellbound.” This season also marked the release of Deutsche Grammophon’s recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, featuring Ms. Crocetto as a soloist.
On the concert stage, Leah starred in Citizens of Song’s “Christmas From Afar” event featuring over 25 acts and up to 400 performers from around the world. She was the Featured Artist in Merola Opera Program’s “Un Gala in Maschera” virtual benefit concert honoring Sheri Greenawald. Ms. Crocetto also led multiple teaching residencies in the 2020/21 season: at the University of Texas – Austin, Siena Heights University, Potomac Vocal Institute, and Washington National Opera.
Very much at home in the Italian operatic repertoire of Verdi and Puccini, Leah Crocetto made her European debut as Leonora in Il Trovatore with Opéra National de Bordeaux, followed by debuts at the Arena di Verona and North Carolina Opera. She sang her first performances in Venice as Desdemona in Otello at Teatro la Fenice. She reprised the role with the company on their tour of Japan and with Frankfurt Opera for her company debut. She has debuted with the Israeli Opera as Luisa Miller, as Suor Angelica, and Liù in Turandot for San Francisco Opera, and sang her first performances as Anna in Rossini’s Maometto II with The Santa Fe Opera, in a new production by David Alden.
On the concert stage, Ms. Crocetto has sung Verdi’s Requiem with Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel, and also with the Calgary Philharmonic, the Columbus Symphony, and Albany Symphony. She sang Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at The Hollywood Bowl, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater in concert with San Francisco Opera and Nicola Luisotti, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection” at the Grand Tetons Music Festival with Donald Runnicles. She returned to her hometown for a gala concert of opera and musical theatre with the Adrian Symphony Orchestra and was featured in a gala opera concert with the Toronto Symphony. She was presented in a Schwabacher Recital for the San Francisco Opera and sang Handel’s Messiah in Anchorage. She is also a featured soloist on Deutsche Grammophon’s recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Career highlights include her title role debut as Aida, the title role of Luisa Miller, Liù in Turandot and Mimì in La bohème with San Francisco Opera; Aïda and Madame Lidoine in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites with Washington National Opera; Aida with Seattle Opera; her debut as Alice Ford in Falstaff and Leonora in Il trovatore with Oper Frankfurt; her role and house debut as Mimì in La bohème and Tosca with Pittsburgh Opera; her role debut as Eleonora in the first US performances of Donizetti’s L’assedio di Calais with the Glimmerglass Festival; Desdemona in Otello and her role debut as the titular character in Rossini’s Semiramide with Opera National de Bordeaux; Anna in Maometto II with the Canadian Opera Company; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Santa Fe Opera; Desdemona in Otello with English National Opera; and Elisabetta di Valois in a new production of Don Carlo with Opera Philadelphia.
Further highlights from the concert stage include Verdi’s magnificent Requiem and Handel’s Messiah with the National Symphony; Verdi’s Requiem with the NTR Symphony, San Francisco Opera, and the Radio Orchestra of Saarbrücken, Germany; a concert of sacred pieces by Verdi with Orchestre National de France under the direction of Daniele Gatti; a solo recital with pianist Mark Markham at the John F. Kennedy Center; her New York City recital debut at Pace University with pianist Martin Katz; Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center at Alice Tully Hall; and recitals in Ann Arbor and her hometown of Adrian, Michigan.
Leah Crocetto represented the United States at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, where she was a finalist in the Song Competition. She is a Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was the First Place Winner, People’s Choice and the Spanish Prize Winner of the José Iturbi International Music Competition, and winner of the Bel Canto Foundation competition. She holds degrees from Siena Heights University in acting performance and Moody Bible Institute in vocal studies.