about.
Praised by the San Francisco Chronicle as a “hugely impressive artist” who sings with a “deep velvety tone” and “sparkling vivacity”, Patricia Westley opened the 2021 season with a return to Palm Beach Opera as a Benenson Young Artist, singing Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, covering Pamina, and Musetta in La bohème.
(Peter Grimes, Teatro La Fenice)
Recent season highlights include Gretel in Hansel & Gretel with Palm Beach Opera, a world premier as Selena in Jake Heggie’s If I Were You , Elisa in Mozart’s Il re pastore with Merola Opera Program, debuts with the Oakland Symphony as soloist for Brahm’s Ein deutsches Requiem, and a Pacific Symphony debut singing multiple roles in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges.
As a life long consumer and devotee of poetry, Patricia delights in her collaborations with pianists in the performance of song. She can recently be seen in a collaboration with Opera Santa Barbara for their digital recital series with pianist Timothy Accurso. In 2019, Patricia sang a recital of Wolf, Barber, and Brahms with Martin Katz in the Schwabacher Recital Series presented by Merola Opera and the San Francisco Opera Center. This was a recital in which she stepped as a replacement with fewer than 10 days notice.
“Were the listener unaware of the situation, the soprano’s performance would have received high marks; given the limited time to prepare for semi-staged performances of lieder without a score, Westley was most impressive. From the substantial Wolf song “To an Aeolian Harp,” with its “lovely cry ... sweet terror ... and sudden stirring of the soul,” through Wolf’s rapturous “Insatiable Love” and “Song of the Wind,” Westley sang with the right projection, fine diction, and the kind of presence rarely exhibited by young artists.”
Additionally, Patricia can be heard on Spotify in cast recordings produced by Lamplighters Music Theatre as Amiam (Yum-Yum) in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The (New) Mikado (minus the Yellowface), Casilda in The Gondoliers, and Elsie in The Yeomen of the Guard.
Patricia is a two time participant in the prestigious Merola Opera Program, a Benenson Young Artist with Palm Beach Opera, and a proud alumna of the University of Oklahoma and Carnegie Mellon University.
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