Mezzo-Soprano Ann Benson is well-known throughout the Inland Northwest as an engaging performer. Ms. Benson was a hilarious and endearing Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro with Inland Northwest Opera in September 2018. She has also sung with Inland Northwest Opera as Hansel in Hansel and Gretel (June 2018), Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus (July 2017), Third Lady in The Magic Flute (September 2016), and Wowkle in La Fanciulla del West (September 2015). Ms. Benson is also an accomplished crossover artist. Most recently, she starred as Alison in Fun Home at Lake City Playhouse (January 2020), bringing "...calm confidence..." to the production (The Spokesman-Review). Past musical theater appearances include a quick-tongued Amy in Sondheim’s Company with the Modern Theater, a vampy chanteuse singing the French Song in A My Name is Alice at CenterStage and Two Ladies in Cabaret at Spokane Civic Theater. Ms. Benson sang as soloist with the Spokane Symphony in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in December 2017 and again in Gloria by Vivaldi in March 2018. She was the mezzo-soprano soloist in Requiem by Mozart in April 2017 with the Palouse Choral Society and sang the alto solo in Haydn's "Lord Nelson Mass" with the Walla Walla University Choir and Orchestra in May 2019. ​ She frequently performs in Impropera - a magnificent mash-up of opera and improvised comedy with her husband, Kevin with whom she co-created the show. Impropera features improv inspired by arias. Ann and Kevin have delighted audiences of all ages with this innovative, satisfying show. With her husband and her two daughters, Ms. Benson lives in Spokane, Washington where she works as Director of Children’s Arts at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church and maintains a voice studio.