Mary Creswell

Associate Professor of Music

Mezzo-soprano Mary Creswell has appeared throughout the United States in opera, oratorio , and chamber music. Her active and varied performing schedule includes the operatic roles of Dorabella, Rosina, Carmen, and Elizabeth Proctor in Robert Ward’s The Crucible. As an oratorio soloist she performs Messiah, Elijah, Magnificat, and the requiems of Verdi and Mozart. Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen as well as Bernstein’s Jeremiah Symphony are samples of her symphonic solo repertoire.

Lauded for her extremely versatile voice, Ms. Creswell is a guest soloist with The American Chamber Players and has performed on several of their concert tours. A finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Regional Auditions, she made her New York Recital debut in 1995 and has subsequently appeared with the Detroit Symphony, Austin Symphony, Manchester Symphony, and Opera Grand Rapids, among others. She sang the mezzo solos in Samuel Adler’s Choose Life at the New York premiere in Avery Fisher Hall in 1998, and is featured on several recordings under the Albany Label. Ms. Creswell teaches applied voice and directs ISU Opera Studio. She spends summers teaching and performing at the Interlochen Arts Festival in Michigan. Her teachers include Beverley Rinaldi, Thomas Hardie, and Eugene Bossart. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where she was the recipient of the Elisabeth Schwarzkopf-Walter Legge Scholarship for graduate study.