LEILA BOWIE
SOPRANO
American Soprano, Leila Bowie, is quickly gathering acclaim for her “rich and warm soprano” (Times Argus Vermont) vocal ability intertwined with her “crisp diction and expressive passion” (Musical America Worldwide).
One of Chicago’s emerging artists, Leila Bowie is the recipient of the 2011 Lynne Harvey Music Scholarship from the Musicians Club of Women. Most recently she made her Orchestra Hall debut as a soloist in “Beyond the Score: Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben” with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Also in 2011, Ms. Bowie was a finalist the Neue Stimmen International Singing Competition in Germany.
For the last two seasons she performed as a Young Artist with Chicago Opera Theater. Her most recent operatic performances have included the role of Nérine in Charpentier’s Médée and the cover of Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben for Chicago Opera Theater, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte for the Green Mountain Opera Festival in Vermont, and Beth in Adamo’s Little Women for Sugar Creek Symphony and Song.
Some of her upcoming engagements include, the World Premiere of George Flynn’s Songs of Destruction in participation with New Music DePaul in Chicago, La Contessa in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with Candid Concert Opera in Madison, WI, and as a soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the Marion Philharmonic Orchestra. In September 2012 she performed the role of First Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute for Chicago Opera Theater.
Her versatility as a singing actress has led her to other recent performances which have included the title role in Holst’s Sāvitri, Lisette in Puccini’s La Rondine, Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine, Lucy in Menotti’s The Telephone, La Princesse in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les sortileges, Rose in Heggie’s At the Statue of Venus, and The False Angčle in Weill’s The Tsar Has His Photograph Taken.
Additional roles include Musetta in Puccini’s La Bohčme, Rosalinde in Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, and Bea in Heggie’s Three Decembers. Some of her recent orchestral performances have included Respighi’s Deitą Silvane in Chicago’s Harris Theater with the Chicago College of Performing Arts Symphony Orchestra and as Musetta in Act 3 of La Boheme with Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra.
She is an advocate for contemporary composers and has appeared in recital in wide-ranging repertoire.