Artist Biography
I'm Liz Culpepper, a mezzo-soprano currently based in Austin, Texas. I am striving to build a performance career that represents in its scope the diversity of my training and experience as a musician.
Although I am now a mezzo-soprano specializing in opera, the majority of my performance experience prior to 2015 was as a soprano specializing in Early Music. For my undergraduate degree, I attended the University of Texas at Austin. I graduated in the Spring of 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Voice Performance with a minor in Religious Studies. While at UT-Austin, I performed with the University of Texas Chamber Singers and with other Early Music ensembles in the area. I went straight to Indiana University to pursue my Masters of Music in Voice.
It was around the time that I started my Masters that I changed focus in two major areas of my musical life. The first big change was the switch from soprano to mezzo-soprano. The second was a shift of focus from performing Early Music, as both a chorister and soloist, to performing operatic repertoire. Prior to 2016, I had focused entirely on choral and Early Music repertoire.
In 2016, I had my operatic debut in Madama Butterfly, singing the role of Suzuki. The following year, I added two more roles to my résumé, Mrs. Sedley in Peter Grimes and Mércédès in Carmen. Other roles followed at IU and in various summer engagements, with my most recent role debut being the titular role of Händel's Xerxes at IU in the spring of 2021.
I am now in the final stages of pursuing my Doctorate in Voice with an emphasis in performance from IU and have an estimated completion date of May 2023.
In addition to my experience on the operatic stage and in choral ensembles, I am a lover and performer of art song and musical theatre repertoire. I also have a passion for performing new Contemporary works, which I did in great number at IU with NOTUS, a contemporary vocal ensemble led by Dr. Dominick DiOrio, and New Music Ensemble under the baton of David Dzubay.
I am deeply invested in sharing music with younger singers and was an Associate Instructor at IU for three and a half years in the Voice Department. As an AI, I taught private lessons and class voice lessons. I am able to teach in-person lessons through Round Rock Music School in Round Rock, TX, and over Zoom! Please inquire about voice lessons, if you're interested!