Music
Elizabeth Parcells
1951–2005 · coloratura soprano, voice teacher
Detroit-born coloratura soprano who built a twenty-year career in German and Swiss opera houses, sang with Michigan Opera Theatre and came home to teach.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 54- Detroit years
- 1951–1970s, 1997–2005
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Parcells was born in Detroit in 1951, began voice lessons at sixteen and studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy and the New England Conservatory in Boston. In 1977 she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and a Pro Musicis Foundation sponsorship launched her career. She joined the opera studio of the Zurich Opera and then sang for two decades in Augsburg, Wiesbaden, Frankfurt, West Berlin, Basel and Stuttgart, specializing in brilliant high roles such as Olympia, Zerbinetta, the Queen of the Night and Lucia. She also appeared in American houses, including Michigan Opera Theatre, and taught voice at the University of Bremen. In 1997 she returned to the Detroit area, settling in Grosse Pointe, and coached singers at Oakland University in Rochester Hills and at Schoolcraft College in Livonia. She gave a farewell recital at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in 2005 and died in Detroit that December.
Highlights
- Winner of the 1977 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions
- Twenty years in German and Swiss opera houses
- Roles included Zerbinetta, the Queen of the Night and Lucia
- Taught at Oakland University and Schoolcraft College from 1997
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1997–2005
Oakland University
After returning to Michigan she coached voice students at Oakland University.