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The American mezzo-soprano, Tersa Procter-Rousell, obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and Management from Luther College Decorah, Iowa, where she graduated magna cum laude (2008-2012); and her Master of Music in Voice Performance and Opera in 2014 from the renowned Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, Texas, studying with Julie Simson and Kathleen Kaun (2012-2014).
Teresa Procter delights in operatic, chamber, jazz, early music, and concert repertoire with her welcoming and encouraging spirit, she connects. As a Young Artist with Opera Theater Pittsburgh this past summer (2015), she premiered the role of Bette Stritch in their commissioned opera production, A New Kind of Fallout by Gilda Lyons and Tammy Ryan. At the end of September 2015, she had the opportunity to bring to life NASA astronauts’ encounters with exploration in the world premiere of Houston Grand Opera’s O Columbia, a chamber opera by Gregory Spears and Royce Vavrek, commissioned as part of HGOco’s Songs of Houston Initiative. Other full opera roles performed include her Canadian debut as Dorabella in W.A. Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Cherubino in W.A. Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Ramiro in W.A. Mozart's La finta giardiniera, Harry in Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring, Olga Olsen in Street Scene, and Epicene/Austin Scarlet in Volpone. In 2016, she performed as the mezzo-soprano in The Velveteen Rabbit for Houston Grand Opera’s Opera to Go! (August 2015-January 2016),
In concert Teresa Procter has been the mezzo-soprano soloist in Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria RV 589, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, George Frideric Handel's Messiah with the Rice University Chorale, and in the world premiere of Luther Mass by Stephen Paulus at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Through Bach Society Houston she has been a mezzo-soprano soloist in J.S. Bach's Magnificat (BWV 243), St. Matthew’s Passion (BWV 244), Cantata Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12, and Cantata Gott ist mein König, BWV 71. Through summer engagements, she has been a Young Artist with Opera Theater of Pittsburgh; a Concert Artist with the Oberlin in Italy Program in Arezzo, Italy; a Young Artist in the CoOPERAtive Program in Princeton, New Jersey; and the vocalist for the Interlochen Performing Ensemble at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, Interlochen, Michigan.
Teresa Procter is an advocate for innovative musical and artistic outreach beyond the opera stage and concert hall - connecting to her immediate community. In her graduate studies at Rice University, she was a 2013-2014 recipient of The Sviatoslav Richter Fund for Music Outreach at Rice University with her original interactive presentations for patients and their families, “Mornings at the Opera,” performed at the Texas Children’s Hospital through the Arts in Medicine Program. As a result of this collaboration with Texas Children’s Hospital, she became in August 2015 the second Resident Fellow with Purple Songs Can Fly!, a music studio in the hospital and a non-profit started by Anita Kruze that encourages pediatric cancer patients and their families to record and share their own songs. While pursuing her master’s degree, she co-coordinated and performed for the JUMP! Music Outreach program at the Shepherd School, encouraging the next generation of musicians and audience members in Houston area schools to experience music first-hand. She has twice been the featured artist with the national organization Music for Autism at a concerts in Houston (since January 2016).
Teresa Procter is an active artist in the Da Camera Young Artist Program in Houston, Texas (August 2014-May 2016). Through her artist fellowship, she performs for underrepresented communities and presents music on the core curriculum subjects to children in the greater Houston community school district. Teresa especially enjoys her musical residency at The Monarch School, a therapeutic day school for children with neurological disorders. In 2015, she partnered with The Monarch School, The Westview School, Da Camera Young Artists, and MECA, a local multicultural education and art counseling center, to implement a concert program specifically for these community members. She was Teaching Artist at Young Audiences of Houston (August 2014-August 2016).
Teresa Procter also performs in Little Rock, Arkansas, as a guest artist with ArsMusiqa, a chamber ensemble formed by Arkansas Symphony Orchestra members. Teresa is an international artist performing opera and chamber works in Italy, the British Isles, and Canada, but singing in the bluffs in her home state of Iowa, and near the Bayou in Houston, bring her much joy. |
