Elizabeth Parcells

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Elizabeth Parcells (b. December 28, 1951, Detroit, Michigan - d. December 29, 2005, Detroit, Michigan) was an American coloratura soprano. In the USA, she sang at the Michigan Opera Theater, the Boston Lyric Opera and The Washington (D.C.) Opera, among others.

Aged 16 she began her voice lessons and went on to study at the Interlochen Arts Academy. She earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees with honours from the New England Conservatory of Music (Boston).

Parcells was a winner of the 1977 Metropolitan Opera Council National Finals in New York City and was awarded a Pro Musicis Foundation sponsorship which helped launch her professional singing career. She moved to Germany where sang at Augsburg, Wiesbaden, Frankfurt am Main, West Berlin, and Stuttgart. During her concert career, Elizabeth Parcells sang at international festivals such as Tanglewood, Salzburg, Touraine, Bologne, Colorado, Luxembourg, Melk, Lisbon, Rheingau, Huddersfield and Torino. She recorded with the BBC, National Public Radio, Radio France, WDR Cologne and the Radio Luxembourg Orchestra.

Her roles included: "Olympia" in Tales of Hoffmann, "Norina" in Don Pasquale, "Zerbinetta" in Ariadne auf Naxos, "Queen of the Night" in The Magic Flute, and the title characters in Lucia di Lammermoor and Maria Stuarda.

Parcells' farewell recital was given at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in February 2005 under the sponsorship of the Pro Musicis Foundation, whose award so many years earlier had helped launch her career.

After living and working in Europe for over twenty years, Parcells returned home to Grosse Pointe, Michigan in 1997 to coach voice students at Oakland University in Rochester Hills and at Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Michigan.

She battled cancer for 2½ years and died the day after her 54th birthday.