Soprano Darby Schmidt is joining the UNC School of the Arts - A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute pursuing a Master of Music degree under the instruction of Dr. Marilyn Taylor. Darby earned her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the Eastman School of music under the instruction of A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute alum Joshua Conyers.
Hailing from California, Darby has had the privilege to perform many roles with Opera Modesto. During the 2024-2025 season she made her role debut of Susannah in “Le nozze di Figaro” and Nanetta in Verdi’s “Falstaff.” Also with the company she had the pleasure to portray Maria in “Mansfield Park” by Johnathan Dove and premiered the role of Annabel in Annabel by Deborah Kavasch.
During her undergrad at Eastman she performed solos in Eastman’s Bach cantata series, Eastman’s Collegium Musicum, and Eastman Chorale. As winner of the 2023 concerto competition, Darby performed Ricky Ian Gordan’s “and flowers pick themselves” with the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra. She was the second prize winner of the 2023 FEO competition and a finalist in the 2024 Schmidt vocal competition. With Eastman Opera Theater she performed Lyla Lear in Anthony Davis’s Lear on the Second Floor, Prima Donna in Strauss’s “Ariadne auf Naxos” prologue, and as Blanche de la Force in “Dialogue of the Carmelites.”