Michele Kennedy

Soprano

Praised by The Washington Post as “a fine young soprano with a lovely voice" possessing "a graceful tonal clarity that is a wonder to hear" (SF Chronicle), SOPRANO MICHELE KENNEDY is a versatile specialist in early and new music. Her recent concert venues include Carnegie Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, Getty Museum, Lincoln Center, and Washington National Cathedral.

​Michele has been a featured soloist in Bach’s St. John Passion with The San Francisco Symphony Chorus & Voices of Music, Handel’s Messiah with Trinity Wall Street Choir, Poulenc’s Gloria with The Bach Society of Saint Louis, Undine Smith Moore's MLK Oratorio at U.C. Berkeley, in the ‘Summer Fireworks’ of Handel & Purcell with Portland Baroque Orchestra, and in her Carnegie Hall debut with The Hollywood Film Orchestra. This year, she's sung Messiah (St. Louis Bach Society), Monteverdi with DC's Folger Consort, and Bach's B Minor Mass with SF Bach Choir. She is thrilled for upcoming debuts with Washington Bach Consort and Seraphic Fire. Her singing is highlighted on two new albums: Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 with The Thirteen and Dark Horse Consort (listen here!), and In Her Hands with AGAVE, a bold new album of works by trailblazing female composers from over the ages.

​A lifelong advocate of new works, Michele has sung premieres with Experiments in Opera, Harlem Stage Opera, Mimesis Ensemble, Five Boroughs Music Festival, and The New York Philharmonic. This season, she is part of a world premiere tour of Julia Wolfe’s Her Story - a celebration of women’s civil rights - with Lorelei Ensemble and the Nashville, Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras. She is also a member of Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble: a group that champions the voices of women and artists of color on the stage.

​A graduate of Yale University and NYU, Michele is committed to working toward greater equity and representation for BIPOC and female voices. A lifelong lover of Redwoods and Bay vistas, Michele lives in Oakland with her husband, visual artist Benjamin Thorpe, and their daughter, Audra May.