Liz Pearse is a vocalist who finds joy in variety. After a childhood spent playing every
instrument she could find, she has spent her career exploring the infinite possibilities of the
human voice. Her uniquely colorful and versatile instrument has led to performances of wide-
ranging works from medieval to modern, and though Liz is known as a specialist in
contemporary vocal repertoire, she enjoys a well-aged song. She has alternately been described
as a “badass”, having “a near psychic understanding of what a composer is trying to
accomplish”, and possessing “a voice made of arrows forged in a volcanic pit, transforming the
didactic and mundanely intellectual into actual fire”.
Liz has recently begun a long-term project commissioning and performing works for singer at
the piano, having performed various self-accompanied salon concerts over the past four years.
She prefers to embrace whimsy with these commissions – most of which are portraits of different
members of the animal kingdom, inspired by Poulenc’s Le bestiaire. The menagerie includes (at
present) manatee, penguin, aquarium fish, whales, prehistoric sharks, capybara, and several
wombats.
Liz has a special affinity for music post-1900. As a soloist, her performances have included
multiple performances of Pierrot lunaire, touring Olivier Messiaen’s Harawi, electroacoustic
programming including Philomel, and on-going commissions creating works for self-
accompanying soprano. Future song programs include Harawi with pianist Deanne Mohr,
Messiaen and Saariaho with pianist Andrés Carrizo, and Babbitt with pianist Augustus Arnone.
In addition to her duo collaborations, Liz enjoys the opportunities for friendship and music-
making afforded by chamber musicianship. She is one-quarter of Quince Ensemble, a treble
quartet dedicated to the creation and performance of contemporary vocal literature. With Quince,
Liz has performed on tours of David Lang’s love fail (including the work’s Polish premiere),
Morton Feldman’s Three Voices, and on numerous collegiate residencies and festivals from coast
to coast. Quince’s third album, Motherland, was released to critical acclaim by New Focus
Records in April 2018, and they release their 4th studio recording, love fail, with Innova Records
in April 2020. Liz is also a founding member of Damselfly Trio, a flute/harp/voice ensemble
whose mission involves commissioning and performance of new works for the uncommon set of
instruments. Together, Damselfly has toured Switzerland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and North
Carolina presenting newly minted music alongside seasoned works by Ursula Mamlok and
George Crumb.
In previous seasons, Liz has had the privilege of performing at the Lucerne Festival, singing
Berio's Coro under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. She also performed at soundSCAPE Festival
in Italy, where in 2013 she shared the distinction of "Outstanding Performer" with her brother,
conductor and percussionist John J. Pearse. Other chamber and solo engagements have included
the Toronto Electroacoustic Symposium; (le) poisson rouge; Omaha Under the Radar;
Kerrytown Concert House; Baldwin Wallace University; and Constellation Chicago. Her opera
credits include Lyric Opera Kansas City, Michigan Opera Theatre, Toledo Opera, and Opera in
the Ozarks, in addition to many performances with Indiana University and Bowling Green State
University Opera Theatre. Liz is a prior District winner at the Metropolitan Opera National
Council auditions, has placed in the Nicholas Loren vocal competition, and she won both the Dr.
Marjorie Conrad Art Song Competition and the Competitions in Music Concerto contest while at
BGSU.
Liz received her Doctorate in Contemporary Music from Bowling Green State University in
Ohio. There, her studies included research in the prevalence and incorporation of contemporary
repertoire in the collegiate voice studio, and her dissertation “BECAUSE THERE IS NO BASIS
FOR COMPARISON”: THE SELF-ACCOMPANYING SINGER AND ROGER REYNOLDS’
SKETCHBOOK FOR THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING was defended in October
2018. Liz's doctoral recitals included Messiaen's Harawi and an electroacoustic program, among
a diverse range of art song and chamber music performances, and her mentor there was Dr. Jane
Schoonmaker Rodgers. Prior to her doctoral work, Liz studied with Patricia Stiles at Indiana
University.
More information about Liz can be found at lizpearse.com.