Leneida Crawford

Biography

Mezzo soprano, Leneida Crawford was acclaimed as "an exceptional new performer" by Andrew Porter in The New Yorker and the San Francisco Chronicle described Crawford as "a fine-grained mezzo-soprano of remarkable agility with violalike colors." The Washington Post agreed, characterizing her as a "rosy, unblemished mezzo..."

Crawford made her New York solo debut at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. Solo assignments soon followed with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Eric Leinsdorf, the New England Symphonic Ensemble at Carnegie Hall, and the National Chorale. She has appeared with the Santa Fe Opera, Maryland Opera Studio, Music from Bear Valley, and Eastern Opera. Most recently she has appeared as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with Opera Fairbanks and presented a recital of arias for the Juneau Lyric Opera both in Alaska.

She is well known to Washington, D.C. and Baltimore audiences as a soloist in both oratorio and recital venues. An advocate of American music, she has presented recitals of American Art songs throughout the United States. Currently she and collaborative pianist, Susan Ricci, are completing production of a CD of American Art Songs. Internationally, Crawford presented American song recitals in Beijing and Shanghai, China, Vienna and Mürzzuschlag, Austria, and Mexico City.

Crawford has appeared as a soloist at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall with Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Kennedy Center with The Paul Hill Chorale, Washington Oratorio Society and The Choral Arts Society of Washington, Avery Fisher Hall with the National Chorale, and Carnegie Hall. In addition, she has performed with the Honolulu Symphony, Fairfax Symphony, the Virginia Chamber Orchestra, the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and the Cayuga Chamber Symphony. Crawford has recorded on the Albany (Boris Blacher’s Romeo and Juliet) and VOX labels, and has appeared on CBS and PBS.