Most recently hailed as “beautiful, haunting and deranged” (New Haven Register) in her portrayal of Britney Spears in Jacob Cooper’s electronic opera TimberBrit, Soprano Mellissa Hughes enjoys a busy career in both contemporary and early music. Miss Hughes was recently acclaimed on NPR’s All Things Considered for her “smoky vocals. Performances this season include concerts in Moscow with the Mark Morris Dance Group, soloist with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, a recording with Cantelope, Alarm Will Sound, and Louis Andriessen’s De Staat under the baton of John Adams. A dedicated interpreter of living composers, Miss Hughes has worked closely with Julia Wolfe, Michael Gordon, David Lang, Steve Reich, Neil Rolnick, and has premiered works by Caleb Burhans, Missy Mazzoli, Ted Hearne, Jacob Cooper, Matt Marks, and Frederick Rzewski. Equally at home in front of a rockband, of her role as lead vocalist with Newspeak, an amplified alt-classical band, “Hughes possesses the pipes and the energy reminiscent of the high priestess of alt-music, Diamanda Galas.” (Brooklyn Vegan) In the classical concert hall she has performed Mozart’s Vespers and Requiem under the baton of Sir Neville Marinner, Handel’s Dixit Dominus with Sir David Willcocks, and the role of Dido under the direction of Andrew Lawrence King. Future engagements include Reich’s Music for 18, Proverbs, and Tehillum with SIGNAL, Shelter a video opera by Bang on a Can composers Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe, and Pulitzer Prize winner David Lang. Miss Hughes has recorded for Nonesuch, Cantelope, and Naxos Records, and performs regularly with ensembles Alarm Will Sound, The Wordless Music Series, Clarion Music Society, Newspeak, Vox Vocal Ensemble, Signal, The Long Count, Trinity Wall Street and Ensemble de Sade. Ms. Hughes holds degrees from Westminster Choir College, Princeton; and Yale University.
