Artist Bio

Elliot Menard is an opera-maker (a vocal performer, composer, producer, and grant writer). Working at the nexus of opera-theater, new music, and experimental performance, she is dedicated to bringing new works to life and exploring opera’s many forms.

Elliot is a sincere, present, and sensitive performer, whether she is on the theater stage, in the concert hall, or somewhere in between. As a mezzo-soprano, she sings classical vocal music across all eras (from pre-baroque to contemporary) and a variety of non-classical styles and traditions, such as Jewish cantorial music, jazz, improvisation, and extended techniques. Recent highlights include CalArts’ production of HERE BE SIRENS (Kate Soper) as Polyxo, New Opera Days Ostrava’s premiere of Partial Memories (Judith Berkson), and Renegade Opera’s live premiere of Adam’s Run (Ruby Fulton).

As a composer, she explores how text allows music to emerge and the expressive range of the voice. Her compositions have been programmed at the California Institute of the Arts, the N.E.O. Voice Festival, Open Gate Theatre, and Renegade Opera. She is currently developing [Orpheus], an opera that examines a personal loss through Ovid’s poetry on the Orpheus myth. Her academic background in both vocal performance and ancient literature brings a deep knowledge of the voice and unique perspective on Latin poetry to her compositions.

As a producer, she supports emerging artists, living composers, and underrepresented voices. She is a Co-Founder of Renegade Opera, a Portland-based company dedicated to creating innovative and accessible opera. She has recently produced workshop productions of Sucktion, an operatic monodrama by Anne LeBaron and Douglas Kearney, and American Patriots, an interview-based opera on the “American Dream” by Samantha Rose Williams.

As a grant writer, she redistributes wealth to increase access in the arts for audiences and artists. She writes grants for the Resonance Collective, Urban Voices Project, Renegade Opera, and independent artist projects.

She holds an M.F.A. in Voice Arts from the California Institute of the Arts and a B.A. in Classics from Reed College.