Mezzo-soprano and novelist Vivien Shotwell recently made her L.A. Opera debut as the Second Lady in The Magic Flute, for which she was praised as being “a real standout for volume and vibrancy of tone” (Parterre.com). Last January, she joined the Rai Symphony Orchestra (Turin, Italy) for Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony, under the direction of James Conlon, of which GB Opera wrote, “The luminous song, Urlicht, which constitutes the 4th movement, flowed easily, full of charm, from the voice of American mezzo-soprano Vivien Shotwell.” In the 2020-2021 season, canceled due to Covid-19, she would have performed Zosia in Jake Heggie’s Out of Darkness with the Miami Music Festival, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Wichita Grand Opera, and returned to the Rai Symphony as the soloist in Mahler’s Third Symphony, again under the direction of James Conlon. She recently sang Ottone in Bare Opera’s Poppea, of which Opera News wrote, “Shotwell’s portrayal was gripping, her voice rich in its lowest reaches and projecting just enough gender ambiguity.” In 2018 she sang Fricka in Die Walküre with the Miami Music Festival. Praised for her “extremely attractive and extremely large voice” (Berkshire Review for the Arts), Vivien received a Master’s in Voice from the University of Iowa, and an Artist Diploma in Opera from the Yale School of Music, where she performed Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi under the baton of Speranza Scappucci.