Praised for her “plush” mezzo-soprano voice (The Baltimore Sun) and voice of “sweet clarity” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Kristen Dubenion-Smith enjoys an active performing career in opera, oratorio and sacred vocal chamber music, specializing in music of the medieval, renaissance and baroque eras.

Originally from Michigan, Ms. Dubenion-Smith graduated from Alma College before moving to Baltimore to complete her studies in voice at the Peabody Institute. Now residing in Washington D.C., Kristen co-founded the award winning medieval ensemble, Eya, in 2010. Kristen is also the cantor at the Washington National Cathedral and has recordings on Bard and Gothic labels.

 

Ms. Dubenion-Smith also has a keen interest in contemporary music. She performs regularly with The Evolution Contemporary Music Series where she has performed David Lang’s Pulitzer Prize winning piece The Little Match Girl Passion as well as Peter Lieberson’s Neruda Songs and works by Arvo Pärt. Most recently, Ms. Dubenion-Smith performed, for the composers, selections from the chamber opera Song from the Uproar, song cycle Taking Turns in my Skin, selections from Penelope and premiered Book of the Lake by NYC based composers, Missy Mazzoli, Sarah Kirkland Snider and Daniel Davis.

 

Notable solo engagements of 2014-2015 include concerts with: Eya Medieval Ensemble, The Washington Bach Consort, The Evolution Contemporary Music Series, Easton Choral Arts, the Bach in Baltimore Concert Series, the Dryden Ensemble and a tour of the United States with Apollo’s Fire in the fall of 2014 performing the Monteverdi Vespers. Kristen will also be performing Dowland’s A Pilgrim’s Solace with lutenist Richard Stone.