Lucille Beer has received acclaim for her performances in opera houses and on concert stages around the world, in both the mezzo-soprano and contralto repertoires. She is widely praised, both for her superb musicianship and distinctive timbre critics describe as rare and memorable. A native of New York City, she began her early training at The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division at the age of fifteen. Further studies continued at the Mannes College of Music and again at The Juilliard School receiving a Master of Music degree. During that time Ms. Beer had numerous opportunities to work with many celebrated singers such as Risë Stevens, Gérard Souzay and Peter Pears. Her primary vocal studies, however, were with Daniel Ferro, who is now Professor Emeritus at The Juilliard School. Ms. Beer was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and shortly after, accepted into the Met’s Young Artist Program during which she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1983 as La Bergère in Ravel’s L’enfant et les Sortilèges. Since then she has performed at the Metropolitan in a wide range of supporting roles. A significant turning point in her early career while at the Metropolitan was an opportunity to work with Leonard Bernstein and under his personal guidance, performed his Songfest in Rome, Chicago, New York and Washington, DC, where the performance was broadcast live on PBS. She went on to appear with the New York City Opera as Nancy in Flotow’s Martha, Le Prince Charmant in Massenet’s Cendrillon, and Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and as Bradamante in Handel’s Alcina with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. This past season included a critically acclaimed performance of the role of Madame de Croissy in Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites with the RESONANZ Albany Summer Festival. International opera appearances included the roles of Brangäne in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde with the L‘Opèra de Nice as well as Erda in Siegfried with the Opèra de Nante. In addition to opera, Ms. Beer frequently performs in oratorio as well as a vast array of symphonic repertoire with leading symphony orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, the St. Louis Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the National Symphony and Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra. Ms. Beer has performed with many of the world’s leading conductors including James Levine, Christoph Eschenbach, Leonard Slatkin, David Zinman and with the renowned maestro Eric Leinsdorf with whom she made her New York Philharmonic debut in Debussy's La Damoiselle Élue. In demand as an interpreter of Gustav Mahler’s music, Ms. Beer has performed in all of his symphonies and song cycles both here and abroad to enthusiastic reviews. Her performance of Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen at Carnegie Hall was highly praised by the New York Times. For her performance of the Rückert Lieder, the Sunday Camera declared, "Colorado MahlerFest favorite Lucille Beer has mastered them as if they had been written for her. In the voice of the American contralto is an undertow of melancholy darkness that makes it especially suited to Mahler. She sings the songs as monologues of internalized intensity." Equally at home in song recitals Ms. Beer has collaborated with some of the world’s leading accompanists such as John Wustman in her Alice Tully Hall recital debut at Lincoln Center, Brian Zeger and Warren Jones. Her affinity for the art song repertoire was evident at an early age and continues to be deeply important to her as an artist. She is known to work meticulously on her interpretations, recognizing and displaying the wide range of emotions conveyed in song.