M A X P O T T E R | M E Z Z O - S O P R A N O
Praised by Opera News for her "relish and energy" and hailed as a “virtuoso singing actor”(Voice Magazine), mezzo-soprano Max Potter is an engaging artist known for her expressive vocalism and dynamic presence.
Her 2024 / 2025 season kicks off with a concert tour throughout Arkansas and Texas, presented by The Muses Project and highlighting music by Bizet, Rossini, and Mozart. This fall Max also makes her Pacific Opera Project debut in a recital of works by Joel Balzun, featuring the world premiere of a setting of Yehuda HaLevi’s “‘Tis a fearful thing.” In the new year, she returns to Opera Santa Barbara to debut the role of Cherubino in Mozart’s ‘Le nozze di Figaro’ and returns to The Muses Project in 2025 to reprise this iconic trouser role.
Recent season highlights include Max's role debut as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier with Pacific Northwest Opera, performances as Mercedes Bizet’s Carmen with Opera Santa Barbara, Max’s symphonic debut as the alto soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah at Washington National Cathedral, and her mainstage debut with Chautauqua Opera as Jenny Reefer in The Mother of Us All.
In addition to her career on the operatic stage, Max’s passion for contemporary and rarely-performed repertoire has offered her a unique niche in the concert world. As a resident singer for The American Opera Project’s Composers and the Voice Fellowship she gave world premiere performances of art songs and opera excerpts by established and emerging composers. Other notable concert performances include the world premiere of "Women Have Loved Before as I Love Now" from Margaret Bonds’ Six Songs on Poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay, a holiday tour and NPR broadcast of Max Bruch’s rarely-heard “Gruss a die heilige Nacht” with I Cantori di Carmel, and a staged performance of Heggie’s “The Breaking Waves” at Des Moines Metro Opera for the composer.
Previous notable roles include Sister Helen Prejean (Dead Man Walking), Dorabella (Cosí fan tutte), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Meg Page (Falstaff), Flosshilde & Fricka (Das Rheingold), Beggar Woman (Sweeney Todd), Tebaldo (Don Carlo), Charlotte (Werther), Second Lady & Papgena (Die Zauberflöte), Concepcion (L’heure espagnole), and La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi).
Max is an alumna of The Aspen Opera Center, Des Moines Metro Opera Apprentice Artist Program, CoOPERAtive, and The Opera Southwest Apprentice Artist Program, among others. She has been named a semi-finalist for the Loren L. Zachary Competition, the Palm Springs Opera Guild Vocal Competition, Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition, Premiere Opera International Vocal Competition, Paris Opera Competition, Mildred Miller International Vocal Competition, and MIOpera Vocal Competition. She is a recipient of awards from the Young Musicians Foundation, CoOPERAtive, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions.
A bi-coastal resident of California and the New York City area, Max holds a Master of Music degree from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music and did her undergraduate work at Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music.