American Mezzo Soprano Michelle Monroe most recently appeared as Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance with Cedar Rapids Opera in June 2022. During the 2021 season, Michelle returned to Central City Opera as an apprentice artist where she made her role debut as Maddalena in Verdi’s Rigoletto. Her other engagements with Central City Opera included covering the spunky role of Carrie in Carousel at the Hudson Gardens and performing Second Woman in the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Young Artist production of Dido and Aeneas at the Central City Opera House Gardens.

In the 2019-2020 season, Michelle joined Central City Opera’s Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program as an Apprentice Artist. During their summer season, she performed Une Récitante in Debussy’s La damoiselle élue. She also had the pleasure of preparing a recital with pianist and coach Peter Walsh. In January 2020, Michelle joined Cedar Rapids Opera in their production of Madama Butterfly. While with Cedar Rapids Opera, she also performed in an Aria Recital and made an appearance with Iowa Public Radio to perform “Sein wir wieder gut” from Ariadne auf Naxos.

Michelle appears frequently in recital and as a soloist with regional orchestras. Her recent concert work includes Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra; Christmas on the Prairie with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra; Requiem in D Minor (Mozart), Messiah (Handel), Ein Deutsches Requiem (Brahms), and Lord Nelson Mass (Haydn) with the Grinnell Oratorio Society; and Theresienmesse (Haydn) with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony. She was also featured on a recent recording of James Stephenson’s Dialogue of Self and Soul with the Northern Iowa Wind Ensemble with Cayla Bellamy, bassoon.

Michelle earned her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota. After graduating, she taught chorus and general music for two years in the public schools. Despite her love of teaching, the stage was calling. She attended the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) for the Master of Music in Vocal Performance, during which she earned first place at the UNI Graduate Symposium two consecutive years for her research and performance of selections from Aaron Copland’s Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson and Jake Heggie’s Eve-Song. For her performance of Jake Heggie’s Eve-Song, one judge commented, “She truly committed to the emotional arc of the piece, her intonation was clear and beautiful. She... was truly engaging. She was easily the best performer of the evening.” 

Having an affinity for American vocal music, Michelle has enjoyed performing Jeremy Beck’s monodrama Black Water along with a number of his art songs. The composer commented on her performance of Black Water, saying her voice was “just glorious...its range, nuance, and beauty - [her] command of dramatic shape and musical details… all just marvelous.” She is looking forward to premiering a new set of art songs by Jeremy Beck in the fall of 2021.

Other Young Artist Programs include Cedar Rapids Opera, the Johanna Meier Opera Theater Institute, Music for Singers in Germany, Blooming Voce Summer Opera Workshop, and the Midwest Institute of Opera. While in Germany, she had the opportunity to perform with the Mittelsächsisches Theater in Freiberg, Germany and to study Hugo Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder.

Michelle lives in Cedar Falls, Iowa where she is an instructor of voice at the University of Northern Iowa. When she’s not singing, she loves to spend time outside with her two dogs.