Meet Patricia Racette

For more than three decades, soprano Patricia Racette has appeared in the most acclaimed opera houses of the world including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, The Canadian Opera Company, Royal Opera House, La Scala, Paris Opera, Theater an der Wien, Gran Teatro del Liceu, Bayerische Staatsoper, Opera Firenze, the Vienna Staatsoper, Opera Lisbon, Opera Geneva, Opera Carlo Felice Genova, Teatro Communale Bologna, The Houston Grand Opera, The Dallas Opera, and The Santa Fe Opera.

Established as a great interpreter of Janáček and Puccini, she has gained particular acclaim for her portrayals of the title roles of Madama Butterfly, Tosca, La bohème, Jenůfa, Kátya Kabanová, and all three lead soprano roles in Il trittico as well as putting her stamp on the repertory of Verdi, including the leading lady roles of La traviata, Don Carlos, Simon Boccanegra, and Il trovatore. Her repertory expanded to include triumphant portrayals of Strauss’ Salome, Minnie in La fancuilla del west, Katerina in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Magda in Menotti’s The Consul, Anna Maurrant in Street Scene, Kostelnička in Jenufa, and Elle in La voix humaine.  More recently added several new roles to her repertoire, including Sister Helen in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking and Desirée Armfeldt in A Little Night Music. Additionally, she added a third role, Madame de Croissy, in Les Dialogues des Carmelites, an opera in which she has starred multiple times in the roles of Madame Lidoine and the protagonist, Blanche de la Force. She has been a favorite on The Met: Live in HD series as both the leading lady in Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Pagliacci, and Peter Grimes and a celebrated host for other HD productions.

A champion of new works, Ms. Racette has created roles in multiple world premieres, including her portrayal of Leslie Crosbie in Paul Moravec’s The Letter at The Santa Fe Opera, Roberta Alden in Tobias Picker’s An American Tragedy at the Metropolitan Opera, the title role in Tobias Picker’s Emmeline at The Santa Fe Opera (broadcast on PBS/Albany Records audio), Love Simpson in Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree at the Houston Grand Opera, and most recently, the title role in Tobias Picker’s Dolores Claiborne at the San Francisco Opera.

Among Ms. Racette’s symphonic appearances are performances with The New York Philharmonic, The Boston Symphony, The Chicago Symphony at both the CSO and The Ravinia Festival, The London Philharmonic, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the San Francisco Symphony, and The Houston Symphony.

Ms. Racette made her directorial debut with a new production of La traviata for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in the summer of 2018 and has since returned there to direct productions of Floyd’s Susannah and Poulenc’s La voix humaine, the latter in which she served as both leading lady and director. The St. Louis Theater Circle recognized Susannah as the 2024 Outstanding Production of an Opera and La voix humaine as a 2023 Outstanding Achievement in Opera. Other recent productions have included The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Scenes Program at Juilliard’s Paul Sharp Theater,  Roméo et Juliette at the Arizona Opera, Don Giovanni for the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, The Consul for San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and An Evening of Scenes for the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago. In the 2024-25 season, Ms. Racette directs John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles at Rice University and the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Scenes. Future projects include directing Susannah for both Opera Omaha and San Diego Opera and her directorial debut at Houston Grand Opera.

Outside the classical world, Ms. Racette came full circle to her pre-opera roots in jazz and cabaret in 2013. Her cabaret show, Diva on Detour, with pianist and arranger Craig Terry, was captured in front of live studio audiences in New York City. Together, Patricia and Craig have performed this show in over fifty venues ranging from New York’s famed 54 Below to Barcelona’s ethereal Salón de Baile to Madrid’s Teatro Real. Inspired by the popularity of a Diva on Detour Edith Piaf medley, Ms. Racette’s next one-woman show was born: Patricia Sings Piaf. It debuted at Chicago’s Harris Theater in December 2022 and made its West Coast premiere at The Presidio Theatre in San Francisco in the spring of 2024. In 2025, Patricia Sings Piaf will be continue on to The Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis and to Seattle Opera.

Since 2019, Ms. Racette has been the Artistic Director of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis’ Gerdine Young Artist and Richard Gaddes Festival Artist Programs. She continues to be sought after for master classes and workshops to foster artistry in the next generation of classical singers. In January 2017, she presented the pilot program of her intensive seminar, “Integrative Artistry,” at the San Francisco Conservatory, and has since presented it at The Juilliard School, the Washington National Opera, the Marion Roose Pullin Studio at Arizona Opera, and the New England Conservatory of Music. Additionally, she created and delivered a pilot course on “The Art of Cross-Over Singing for The Classical Voice” at San Francisco Conservatory of Music in January of 2025. It was so successful that the school subsequently decided to make it a recurring course in future winter terms.

Born and raised in New Hampshire, Ms. Racette is a graduate of the University of North Texas where she studied jazz and music education. In 2017, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She has been recognized at the highest level in the industry, with awards including the prestigious Opera News Award, the Richard Tucker Award, the Marian Anderson Award, a Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 25th Anniversary Medal of Honor at San Francisco Opera. She also received the 2017 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for her performance of Marie Antoinette in the Los Angeles Opera’s production of The Ghosts of Versailles.