American mezzo-soprano Ronnita Miller returns full force in a multifaceted 2021-2022 season on stage and in concert, joining the Metropolitan Opera as Big Stone in Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice, Michigan Opera Theatre as Ella in a new production of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X, a role she also performs with Boston Modern Opera Project. She also joins the San Diego Symphony for Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, and appears in recital with New World Symphony. In the summer of 2022, she joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic as a Valkyrie in Die Walküre. Ms. Miller’s 2020-2021 season saw performances at The Atlanta Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin, and in the summer of 2021 she curated a recital titled What the Heart Desires with tenor Nicholas Phan for the Merola Festival. In future seasons, she returns to San Francisco Opera as Filippyevna in Eugene Onegin and to Lyric Opera of Chicago as the Marquise in La fille du regiment, and reprises the role of Ella in X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X with Opera Omaha and Boston Modern Opera Project.
In the 2019-2020 season, she completed her seventh season as a member of the ensemble at Deutsche Oper Berlin. Performances there included Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria Rusticana, Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Mary in Der fliegende Holländer, Madelon in Andrea Chenier, and Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera. She also made her debut at the Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam as Fricka in a performance of Die Walküre, conducted by Jaap van Zweden, and in the US she joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to sing Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria Rusticana under the baton of Riccardo Muti. Ms. Miller was then scheduled to returned to Lyric Opera of Chicago to continue her portrayal of Erda and First Norn in Der Ring des Nibelungen, sing the Verdi Requiem in Utrecht, and end the season at Cincinnati Opera in her role debut as Amneris in Aida, however these performances were cancelled due to the global pandemic.
In previous seasons at Deutsche Oper Berlin, she sang Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette before returning to Lyric Opera Chicago in her signature role of Erda in Siegfried. She gave further performances of Erda in Das Rheingold at Teatro Real, Madrid before returning to The Metropolitan Opera to sing the First Norn in Götterdämmerung, and to Boston Symphony Orchestra where she sang Schwertleite in Die Walküre at Tanglewood. In the UK she sang First Norn at the Edinburgh International Festival with Sir Andrew Davis, and at Brighton Festival, Tippett’s A Child of our Time with the Philharmonia Orchestra.Role highlights at Deutsche Oper Berlin include the Handmaiden in L’invisible, Fenena in Nabucco, and Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro, as well as appearing in revival performances of some of the roles that have brought her the admiration of Berlin audiences such as Marthe Schwertlein in Faust. Other recent highlights include Erda and
First Norn at San Francisco Opera and performances at Semperoper Dresden as Erda under the baton of Christian Thielemann. Guest appearances elsewhere included the role of Amando in Le Grand Macabre under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle with both the London Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic, as well as Verdi’s Requiem at Staatsoper Hannover.
Ms. Miller joined the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper Berlin for the 2013-14 season and made her house and role debut as Fenena in Nabucco, additionally singing Grimgerde in Die Walküre and First Norn in Götterdämmerung. Other roles have included Anna in Les Troyens, Dryade in Ariadne auf Naxos, Bianca in The Rape of Lucretia, Alice in Lucia di Lammermoor, Filipyevna in Eugene Onegin, Wowkle in La Fanciulla del West, Geneviève in Pelléas et Mélisande, and Maddalena/Giovanna in Rigoletto.
She made her role debut as Fricka with the Odense Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the late Alexander Vedernikov. In previous seasons she debuted as Mistress Quickly in Falstaff with Los Angeles Opera, where she also sang Mary in Der Fliegende Holländer, a role she also performed at the Ravinia Festival. She joined the Cincinnati May Festival for both the Mahler’s Eighth Symphony and a special anniversary performance of Nathaniel Dett’s The Ordering of Moses under the baton of James Conlon, which was also presented at New York’s Carnegie Hall in a live broadcast performance.
In addition to performing, Ms. Miller has conducted masterclasses at St. Petersburg College in St. Petersburg, Florida, outreach classes in NYC, written for online publications including Interview En L’air, and has taught private lessons.