Soprano Darby Schmidt is pursuing a Master of Music degree at the UNC School of the Arts A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, where she studies with Dr. Marilyn Taylor. She earned her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute alum Joshua Conyers.
At UNCSA, Schmidt recently portrayed Elettra in Idomeneo and Médée in the spring opera double bill Médée and La Colombe. Originally from California, she has performed extensively with Opera Modesto. During the company’s 2024–2025 season, she made her role debuts as Susanna in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff. She also portrayed Maria in Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park and created the role of Annabel in Deborah Kavasch’s Annabel.
During her undergraduate studies at Eastman, Schmidt performed as a soloist with the Bach Cantata Series, Collegium Musicum, and Eastman Chorale. As the winner of the 2023 Concerto Competition, she performed Ricky Ian Gordon’s and flowers pick themselves with the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra. Her Eastman Opera Theater credits include Lyla Lear in Anthony Davis’s Lear on the Second Floor, the Prima Donna in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos (Prologue), and Blanche de la Force in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites.
Schmidt was the second-prize winner of the 2023 FEO Competition and a finalist in the 2024 Schmidt Vocal Competition.