Lucy Shelton

The only artist ever to have won two Walter W. Naumburg Awards, as a chamber musician and a solo vocalist, internationally acclaimed soprano LUCY SHELTON has premiered over 100 works, many of which were written expressly for her vocal talents. She has worked closely with major composers of our time such as Elliott Carter, Charles Wuorinen, David Del Tredici, Milton Babbitt, Shulamit Ran, Oliver Knussen, Kaija Saariaho, Gyorgy Kurtag, Joseph Schwantner, Gerard Grisey, Bernard Rands and Pierre Boulez. Shelton has performed across the globe with major orchestras and conductors in repertoire of all periods. As a chamber musician she has been a frequent guest with ensembles such as Emerson String Quartet, eighth blackbird, Da Camera of Houston, 21st Century Consort, Da Capo Chamber Players, Schoenberg-Asko Ensemble, London Sinfonietta, Nash Ensemble and Ensemble InterContemporain. Among the many Festivals in which she has participated as both faculty and soloist are Aspen, Tanglewood, Santa Fe, Ojai, Banff, Yellow Barn, Chamber Music Northwest, BBC Proms, Aldeburgh, Kuhmo, and Salzburg. Her supreme musicality has been captured on over 50 recordings. Shelton has taught at New England Conservatory, Juilliard, Cleveland Institute and Curtis and is currently a faculty member at Manhattan School of Music’s Contemporary Performance Program.

Shelton made her grand opera debut in the role of The Teacher in Kaija Saariaho’s final opera Innocence in 2021 with performances in Aix-en-Provence followed by productions in Helsinki, London, Amsterdam, San Francisco, and at the Adelaide Festival. She will make her Metropolitan Opera debut in April of 2026.

In 2023 she was the recipient of Chamber Music America’s Bogomolny Lifetime Achievement Award and has received a Distinguished Alumni Award from New England Conservatory, and honorary doctorate degrees from both Pomona College and Boston Conservatory. In 2025 she was honored with the President’s Medal of Distinguished Service from the Manhattan School of Music.

A native of California, Shelton’s primary mentor was the legendary American mezzo-soprano Jan de Gaetani, whose integrity and intensity in music-making continue to be an inspiration.