Lucy Shelton

The only artist ever to have won two Walter W. Naumburg Awards, as chamber musician and solo vocalist, internationally acclaimed Lucy Shelton, soprano (New York, NY),  has premiered over 100 works, many of which were written expressly for her vocal talents. She has worked closely with major composers of our time such as Elliott Carter, Charles Wuorinen, David Del Tredici, Milton Babbitt, Shulamit Ran, Oliver Knussen, Kaija Saariaho, Gyorgy Kurtag, Joseph Schwantner, and Pierre Boulez. Shelton has performed across the globe with major orchestras and conductors in repertoire of all periods. As a chamber musician she has been a frequent guest with ensembles such as Emerson String Quartet, eighth blackbird, Da Camera of Houston, 21st Century Consort, Da Capo Chamber Players, Schoenberg-Asko Ensemble, London Sinfonietta, Nash Ensemble and Ensemble InterContemporain. Among the many Festivals in which she has participated as both faculty and soloist are Aspen, Tanglewood, Santa Fe, Ojai, Banff, Yellow Barn, Chamber Music Northwest, BBC Proms, Aldeburgh, Kuhmo, and Salzburg. Her supreme musicality has been captured on over 50 recordings. Shelton has taught at New England Conservatory, Juilliard, Cleveland Institute and Curtis and is currently a faculty member at Manhattan School of Music’s Contemporary Performance Program. She has recently made her grand opera debut in the role of The Teacher in Kaija Saariaho's last opera “Innocence”, with performances in Aix-en-Provence, Helsinki, London, Amsterdam, San Francisco and Adelaide. Shelton has received honorary doctorate degrees from both Pomona College and Boston Conservatory and was the 2023 recipient of the Bogomolny Lifetime Achievement Award from Chamber Music America. Her primary mentor was the legendary American mezzo-soprano Jan de Gaetani, whose integrity and intensity in music-making continue to be an inspiration. Previous Yellow Barn musician (since 2016)