Michaela Larsen, Mezzo Soprano
Heralded by the Brooklyn Discovery as “visually and vocally another bright ray,” mezzo soprano Michaela Larsen has a voice that is “plangent [and] coupled with excellent stagecraft.” Her impeccable technique and regal stage presence provide a rich foundation for creative exploration and spell-binding artistry. She leaves no stone unturned when it comes to repertoire–she is equally at home in Baroque, Classical, Contemporary, and Romantic repertoire, and maintains a devoted attention to detail that is proven through her nuanced, bold delivery. The 2025-2026 season saw Ms. Larsen in several role debuts: Dido (Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas-Opera Kansas), Santuzza (Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana-Opera Night Long Island), and La Zelatrice (Puccini’s Suor Angelica-Regina Opera). During the Summer 2026 season, Ms. Larsen was engaged as an Ader Emerging Artist with Charlottesville Opera, where she performed with frightening ferocity as the Stepmother in Roger & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, and served as the Second Cover for Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia. While in Charlottesville, she also delivered a stunning (memorized) rendition of Knoxville: Summer of 1915, (Barber) complete with heartwrenching staging that received rave reviews, and for many was the most moving performance of the summer festival’s events.
Ms. Larsen has appeared across the country and internationally with several reputable houses, building a reputation for her sharp mind and effortless approach to whatever musical task she meets–The Metropolitan Opera (New York, NY), Chautauqua Opera (Chautauqua, NY), Opera Kansas (Wichita, KS), Regina Opera Company (Brooklyn, NY), Sunnyside Opera (Tampa, FL), TUNDI Festival (Brattleboro, VT), Vienna Summer Music Festival (Vienna, Austria), and Musica Festa della Todi (Todi, Italy). Her operatic credits include: Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro); Hermia (Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream); the title role in Gustav Holst’s Sāvitri; Jean in Jules Massenet’s Le portrait de Manon, Venus in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis; and Nancy in Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring . Ms. Larsen made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the company’s acclaimed Verdi Requiem in September 2023, returning in the 2024-25 season in Beethoven’s Fidelio, and gracing the stage thrice more in the current season: Verdi’s Macbeth, Saint-Saëns’ Samson et Dalilah, and a rare performance of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony.
Outside of her work as a performer, Ms. Larsen is an avid scholar and educator, currently completing her Doctoral Studies at Stony Brook University. She is currently serving as Adjunct Professor of Voice at City University of New York–LaGuardia. Ms. Larsen is also a Voice Specialist with Shakespeare for Parkinson’s, a theatre troupe based in New York City that engages with the works of Shakespeare and devised theatre as a therapeutic and community-building resource for persons living with Parkinson’s Disease.
At the heart of her vibrant artistic endeavors, Michaela is committed to sharing the fact that singing is for everyone, and the power of the human voice is unshakable and necessary to our common humanity.