Amber Cierra Merritt is a second -year Specialist student at the University of Michigan where she studies with Dr. Louise Toppin. During her time at Michigan, Merritt starred as Edmonia in the workshop of the opera Edmonia by William Banfield and as the Sparrow in Nkeiru Okoye’s Bre’r Rabbit and the Tar Baby. Merritt also starred as Frau Herz in Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor. Merritt placed first in the Great Lakes Region’s National Student Auditions in the Advanced Category and first in the regional and national level in the Hall Johnson Spirituals category in 2020. Last season, Merritt has starred in two PBS specials with the American Pops Orchestra entitled “One Voice: American Roots” and “United in Song: Celebration of American Roots”.

Merritt received her Master of Music from the University of Michigan and her Bachelor of Music from the University of Maryland College Park. During her time at the University of Maryland, she was a member of the UMD Chamber Singers, who frequently collaborated with the National Symphony Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Merritt was a soloist for Donizetti’s Ave Maria which was performed with University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra. She was also featured as a soloist in the UMD Bach Cantata Series performance of Cantata 23 Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn and the University of Maryland’s 2019 School of Music Commencement Ceremony. Merritt is also an esteemed alumna of Baltimore School for the Arts.