Keely Futterer
Arkansan-born soprano Keely Futterer has been praised by Opera News as a “high-quality lyric soprano with a keen verbal nuance,” and seen in performances across the globe. Career highlights of Ms. Futterer include the leading ladies of Elle in La voix humaine, the title role of Suor Angelica, Adina in L’elisir d’amore, and Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro. She received critical acclaim for her role debut of Marie in La fille du régiment at Opera Saratoga, where she was reviewed as having “one of the most gorgeous voices you can imagine with charm to match. Hers [was] a performance you will remember and speak about for years.” She has also performed in many new works, such as Isabella Beecher in Victoria Bond’s Mrs. President, the Witch Mother in the American premiere of Philip Glass’ The Witches of Venice, and recently as Angostura LaBelle in the pastiche Tenor Overboard, a new production spearheaded by Francesca Zambello and the Glimmerglass Festival and which featured a book by Tony-award winner Ken Ludwig and Rossini’s music. As Angostura, she was praised by The Wall Street Journal as, “the standout singer … who knocked out the bravura “Bel raggio lusinghier” from Semiramide … with total command.”
Ms. Futterer has also had success in competition; she won 3rd place out of over 70 competitors from all over the world in Phoenix Art Network: Bologna International Voice Competition in Bologna, Italy and was given an additional discretionary prize from Varna State Opera. She was a semi-finalist at the Midwest Regional MET Auditions, was a finalist and won the Audience Favorite Award in the Rochester Classical Idol Competition, and took 2nd place for the American Prize. In recent years, she won first prize in Lyra New York’s Mozart Competition, in both the aria and art song categories, and also placed first in Opera Mississippi’s John Alexander National Vocal Competition.
A passionate interpreter of concert work, Ms. Futterer has covered Renée Fleming for the world premiere of Kevin Puts’ Letters from Georgia with the Eastman Philharmonic, was the soloist for Mahler’s Symphony IV, also with the Eastman Philharmonic, and performed Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. She has also been the soloist for other oratorio and concert engagements such as Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s solo cantata for soprano, BWV 51:Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, Handel’s Messiah, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Brahms’ Deutches Requiem, as well as scenes and aria concerts around the United States, China, and Italy. In 2019, Ms. Futterer had the great honor to work with the Lynx Project on their Autism Advocacy Concert Series, where she performed the world debut of two song cycles, both written expressly for her voice and featuring text by brilliant young poets with autism.
Ms. Futterer is an alumna of fine training programs such as The Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Saratoga , Tulsa Opera, Opera Naples’ Coaching Intensive with Renata Scotto, and Si Parla, Sì Canta. She took her BA from Arkansas Tech University and her MM in Voice Performance and Opera Stage Direction from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with Kathryn Cowdrick. In 2021, Ms. Futterer finished her doctoral degree in Vocal Performance and Literature, also from the Eastman School of Music.
This season, Keely returned to The Glimmerglass Festival to repeat the role of Armida in Rinaldo opposite Anthony Roth Costanzo in the title role. She also made her debut with Hudson Hall as the title role in Handel’s Rodelinda and Madison Opera as Léontine in The Anonymous Lover. She will appear with Minnesota Opera in the double bill of Trouble in Tahiti/Service Provider and as Musetta in La bohème, and then will continue on to Wolf Trap Opera, where she will sing Anna Sørenson in Silent Night (premiered at MNOP in 2011) and will be the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. She currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota with her husband and is finishing her second year with the Resident Artist program at Minnesota Opera.
