Biography

A graduate of Juilliard (where she was the Winner of the Taranow Prize in Voice) and Barnard College, Brenda Patterson’s artistic instinct has always been to question and experiment. Even during her days as a student, she extended her own role as singer into production, creative design and performance art. Her international opera career began at the Hamburg State Opera before continuing to the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the Metropolitan Opera, where she was a Principal Artist for seven seasons, and at Opera Colorado, Glimmerglass Opera, Carnegie Hall, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Florida Grand Opera, among many others. A passionate vocal teacher who believes in imparting a solid technical foundation to her students, Patterson has presented classes at Juilliard, Mannes, Tanglewood, Opera Philadelphia and for the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artists. She is also a co-founder and the Director of Music of the award-winning Victory Hall Opera in Charlottesville.