From: Portland, Maine. LA Opera: Angel in The Festival Play of Daniel (2016); First Frida Image in Frida y Diego (2023, mainstage debut). She was a member of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program from 2015 to 2016.
Named “Debut Artist of the Year” by the Joy in Singing Foundation, mezzo-soprano Abi Levis is quickly being recognized as an exciting singer of immense talent, with critics around the world describing her artistry as “fearless,” “dazzling,” “impressive,” and “breathtaking.” In the 2022/23 season, Ms. Levis sang the roles of the Officer’s Wife/Martha in The Secret Garden with Hawaii Opera Theater, joined the Portland Baroque Orchestra for Handel’s Messiah and returned to Promfest Estonia as Prince Charmant in Cendrillon. During the 2023/24 season, Ms. Levis will make debuts with Brooklyn Art Song Society, and the Reno Chamber Orchestra, while also returning to LA Opera, Intermountain Opera Bozeman and the Portland Baroque Orchestra.
In the 2021/22 season, Ms. Levis appeared as Annio in La Clemenza di Tito with Angers Nantes Opéra, debuted as the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Lakes Area Music Festival, and reprised her signature role of Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro with Intermountain Opera Bozeman. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Levis saw the cancellation of major debuts with San Francisco Opera, Fort Worth Opera and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.
Overseas, Ms. Levis has joined Deutsche Oper Berlin in roles such as the Second Lady in The Magic Flute, Siébel in Faust, Mercédès in Carmen and Dido in Dido and Aeneas. She has also performed with the Luzerner Theater as Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette, Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice. Other recent operatic highlights include Cherubino (Florentine Opera, Charlottesville Opera, Utah Opera); Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Promfest Estonia, Opera Sofia, Kaunas State Opera); Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus (Utah Opera), Rose and Dina in a double bill of At the Statue of Venus and Trouble in Tahiti (Opera Parallèle); Testo/Memory 3 in War Stories (Opera Philadelphia) and Flora in La Traviata (Dallas Opera).
On the concert platform, Ms. Levis has appeared as a soloist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Handel and Haydn Society, Cincinnati Symphony, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Flint Symphony, Symphonie Atlantique, American Symphony Orchestra, Ars Lyrica Houston and Utah Symphony. She is a core member of the acclaimed Mirror Visions Ensemble, a gifted collective of artists who are passionate about storytelling through the art of song.
Ms. Levis excels in a variety of musical styles from baroque to contemporary music, from opera to musical theater. Passionate about new music, she has worked closely with composers such as John Harbison, John Musto, Brian Suits, Tamzin Elliot, Juliana Hall, and Michael Hirsch.
A veteran in the competition circuit, Ms. Levis has won prizes from the Gerda Lissner Competitions (Song and Opera), Sullivan Foundation, Vero Beach Opera Competition, McCammon Competition, James Toland Vocal Arts Competition, Lyndon Woodside Oratorio Competition and the Joy in Singing Competition, among others. She was also named a finalist in the Wilhelm Stenhammar Competition, Mildred Miller International Vocal Competition and Cesti Baroque Competition, and a semi-finalist in the George London Competition, Opera Index Competition, Loren L. Zachary Competition and Operalia.
As a Young Artist, she performed with LA Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Utah Opera/Utah Symphony, the Britten-Pears Young Artist Program, and Songfest. Ms. Levis holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, and Bard College.
Learn more at AbiLevis.com.
