Praised by The Washington Post as “an excellent and engaging” soprano possessing "a graceful tonal clarity that is a wonder to hear" (SF Chronicle), SOPRANO MICHELE KENNEDY is a versatile specialist in Baroque, Classical, and contemporary music. Winner of the 2023 American Prize in Voice, Michele’s concert venues include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Washington National Cathedral, Benaroya Hall, and Davies Symphony Hall.

Michele’s recent solo highlights include Bach's St. John Passion with the San Francisco Symphony, Gabriel and Eve in Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with Washington Bach Consort, Handel’s Messiah with NYC’s Trinity Wall Street Choir, Poulenc’s Gloria with Bach Society of Saint Louis, Smith Moore's MLK Oratorio at UC Berkeley, and her Carnegie Hall debut with The Hollywood Film Orchestra. This season, she joins Portland Baroque Orchestra for Bach’s Magnificat, The Thirteen Choir & Baroque Orchestra for Handel’s Messiah, and SF Choral Society for Bach’s Mass in B Minor.

A lifelong champion of new works, Michele has sung world premieres with Seraphic Fire, Kaleidoscope Ensemble, The Crossing, and The New York Philharmonic. She is thrilled to join Lorelei Ensemble in a world premiere tour of Julia Wolfe’s Her Story — alongside Nashville Symphony, Chicago Symphony, The San Francisco Symphony, and the National Symphony — culminating with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, and for the release of her first featured solo album with AGAVE, called In Her Hands, featuring trailblazing female composers from Barbara Strozzi and Clara Schumann to Florence Price and Margaret Bonds.

Michele completed her musical studies at Yale University, Yale School of Music, and NYU. A lover of Redwood groves and Bay vistas, she lives with her husband, visual artist Benjamin Thorpe, and their daughter, Audra May. More