Overview
Noted for her “dazzling, virtuoso singing” (Boston Globe), Lucy Fitz Gibbon is a dynamic musician whose repertoire spans the Renaissance to the present. She believes that creating new works and recreating those lost in centuries past makes room for the multiplicity and diversity of voices integral to classical music’s future. As such, Lucy has given U.S. premieres of rediscovered works by Baroque composers Francesco Sacrati, Barbara Strozzi, and Agostino Agazzari, as well by 20th century composers including Tadeusz Kassern, Roman Palester, and Jean Barraqué. She has also worked closely with numerous others, premiering works by John Harbison, Kate Soper, Sheila Silver, David Hertzberg, Reena Esmail, Roberto Sierra, Anna Lindemann, and Pauline Oliveros. In helping to realize the complexities of music beyond written notes, the experience of working with these composers translates to all music: the commitment to faithfully communicate not only the score, but also the underlying intentions of its creator.
As a recitalist Lucy has appeared with her collaborative partner, pianist Ryan McCullough, in such venues as London’s Wigmore Hall; New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Park Avenue Armory, and Merkin Hall; and Toronto’s Koerner Hall. They have three forthcoming CDs: one of works by James Primosch and John Harbison on Albany Records; one alongside Dawn Upshaw and Stephanie Blythe of Sheila Silver’s Beauty Intolerable; and one featuring mid-20th century Polish works on Acte Préalable. 2019-2020 season highlights include performances with the Aizuri Quartet (Harvard Musical Association) and the Doric Quartet (West Cork Festival); the premiere of Anna Lindemann’s multi-media theater work The Colony; the premiere of a new work by Indian-American composer Shirish Korde with Boston Musica Viva; the premiere of a new orchestration of Lukas Foss’ Time Cycle; two tours with the Musicians From Marlboro, performing works by Brett Dean, Kate Soper, and Handel in such venues as Carnegie Hall and the Kimmel Center; Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Kalamazoo Symphony; and Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne with the Eureka Symphony. She also appears as a artist-in-residence at Kneisel Hall, giving a master class and two concerts with faculty, and gives recitals with pianist Ryan McCullough in New York (Sparks & Wiry Cries songSLAM Festival), Los Angeles (SongFest alumna recital), and New Haven (Yale Center for British Art). In 2018-2019, Lucy joined the Brooklyn Art Song Society for a third consecutive season; premiered John Harbison’s IF, a monodrama for soprano and ensemble, in Boston Musica Viva’s 50th Anniversary season; and performed works by Babbitt and Wuorinen with clarinetists Charles Neidich and Ayako Oshima, among numerous other chamber music concerts. She also appeared as a soloist with the Eureka Symphony, the Richmond Symphony, the Albany Symphony, the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Cornell’s Baroque Orchestra, and Harvard’s Dudley Orchestra, performing works ranging from Handel’s Messiah to world premieres.
A graduate of Yale University, Lucy is the recipient of numerous awards for her musical and academic achievements. Lucy holds an artist diploma from The Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory and a master’s degree from Bard College Conservatory’s Graduate Vocal Arts Program; her principal teachers include Monica Whicher, Edith Bers, and Dawn Upshaw. Lucy has spent summers at the Tanglewood Music Center (2014-2015) and Marlboro Music Festival (2016-2019). She is currently Interim Director of the Vocal Program at Cornell University and on the faculty of Bard College Conservatory’s Graduate Vocal Arts Program.