- Elizabeth Parcells
Elizabeth Parcells (
December 28 1951 ,Detroit, Michigan –December 29 2005 ,Detroit, Michigan )was an American coloratura soprano. In theUSA , she sang at the Michigan Opera Theater, the Boston Lyric Opera and The Washington (D.C.) Opera, among others.Aged 16 she began her voice lessons and went on to study at the
Interlochen Arts Academy . She earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees with honors from theNew England Conservatory of Music (Boston).Parcells was a winner of the 1977 Metropolitan Opera Council National Finals in
New York City and was awarded a Pro Musicis Foundation sponsorship which helped launch her professional singing career. She moved to SwitzerlandOperastudio Zurich then moved to Germany where sang atAugsburg ,Wiesbaden ,Frankfurt am Main ,West Berlin ,Basel, Switzerland andStuttgart . During her concert career, Elizabeth Parcells sang at international festivals such as Tanglewood, Salzburg, Touraine, Bologne, Colorado, Luxembourg, Melk, Lisbon, Rheingau, Huddersfield and Torino. She recorded with the BBC, National Public Radio, Radio France, WDR Cologne and the Radio Luxembourg Orchestra.Her roles included: "Olympia" in "
Tales of Hoffmann ", "Norina"in "Don Pasquale ", "Zerbinetta" in "Ariadne auf Naxos ","Queen of the Night" in "The Magic Flute ", and the title characters in "Lucia di Lammermoor " and "Maria Stuarda ".Parcells' farewell recital was given at the Weill Recital Hall at
Carnegie Hall in February 2005 under the sponsorship of the Pro Musicis Foundation, whose award so many years earlier had helped launch her career.After living and working in Europe for over twenty years, where she was married in Germany since 1985 to
Dierk-Eckhard Becker ,Hamburg , Parcells returned home to Grosse Pointe, Michigan in 1997 to coach voice students at Oakland University in Rochester Hills and at Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Michigan. In Germany Parcells worked as voice instructor at Bremen University until 1997.She battled cancer for 2½ years and died the day after her 54th birthday.
Links
* [http://www.elizabethparcells.com Elizabeth Parcells' Official Site]
* [http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Parcells-Elizabeth.htm Parcells' Bio]
* [http://www.elizabethparcells.com/memories.htm Memories]
* [http://www.lydiakavina.com/index2.html]
* [http://www.fightcolorectalcancer.org/news/2006/01/elizabeth_parcells_19512005.php Fightcolorectalcancer.org site]
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