American soprano Kiera Duffy is recognized for her gleaming high soprano, incisive musicianship, and arresting stage presence, in an extraordinary range of repertory which spans from Bach and Mozart to Schoenberg and Mazzoli.
She has appeared with many of the world’s most distinguished classical music institutions, including the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, London Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Wigmore Hall, The Metropolitan Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Duffy is fluent in a wide range of musical styles, but is particularly well-regarded for her work in the historic, modern, and contemporary repertoire. She has long enjoyed a special affiliation with the works of the 2nd Viennese school, in particular Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire and 2nd String Quartet. A champion of contemporary American music, Duffy has taken part in world premieres by Missy Mazzoli, René Orth, George Lewis, Michael Hersch, James Matheson, Lembit Beecher, and Mohammed Fairouz, among others.
Duffy was recently appointed Associate Professor of Voice at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, after having served on the faculty at the University of Notre Dame’s Department of Music. Duffy has taught singers with a broad range of abilities, musical tastes, and professional aspirations, although her specialty remains Western classical singing. She has taught courses in Vocal Pedagogy Methods, German and French Lyric Diction, 20th and 21st Vocal Literature and Performance Practice, and Performance and Audition Techniques. Her interests include evidence-based vocal pedagogy, mindfulness techniques for optimal performance, applications of motor learning theory and cognition in teaching voice, modern and contemporary music performance practice, historically-informed performance practice, acoustic vocal pedagogy, and best practices for inclusive teaching in Western music pedagogy.
