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Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, MI, USA 48197
Dr. Diane L. Winder
Interim Department Head
emu.music@emich.edu
Phone: 734.487.4380
Fax: 734.487.6939
Mezzo soprano, Monica Swartout-Bebow, made her professional operatic debut as Juno in the Detroit Oratorio Society’s production of Händel’s Semele, in which The Detroit News described her as “captivating.” More recently, she was featured in a performance of Richard Einhorn’s Voices of Light, under the direction of Suzanne Acton, and was also featured in a premier performance of Enid Sutherland’s Daphne and Apollo Remade, under the auspices of The University of Michigan University Musical Society. Her other opera credits include: Annina in La Traviata with the Dayton Opera; Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro with Michigan Opera Works; Dorabella in Così fan tutte, a performance co-produced by the Lincoln Center Institute and The Orchestra of St. Luke’s in New York City; and the title role in Bizet’s Carmen with the Comic Opera Guild of Ann Arbor.
Ms. Swartout-Bebow’s orchestral concert engagements include solo appearances with the Adrian Symphony Orchestra, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Brevard Music Center Orchestra, the Ann Arbor Symphony, the Toledo Symphony, and the AIMS Orchestra in Graz, Austria. She has also performed as an ensemble member for The Detroit Symphony’s Christmas Pops series. Ms. Swartout-Bebow enjoys the recital stage, and has presented solo recitals at concert houses and churches in Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois.
She has worked in an apprenticeship capacity with the Dayton Opera, the Toledo Opera, the Brevard Music Center, and as a studio artist with the Chautauqua Opera Company. She also wore the hat of stage director in the 2001 production of Gianni Schicchi with the Ann Arbor Opera, as well as that of vocal music director in Washtenaw Community College’s production of the musical, Victor/Victoria. Having started her career in various nightclubs and theatre venues, Ms. Swartout-Bebow’s singing extends to the genres of jazz, cabaret, and musical theatre. She has appeared in cabaret and jazz performances at regional venues including Davenport’s in Chicago, the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor, the Cadillac Club in Lansing, and at the Toledo Museum of Art. During her undergraduate studies at Western Michigan University, she was a member of the internationally acclaimed vocal jazz group, Gold Company. In 2004, Ms. Swartout-Bebow began a two-year stint in Chicago, where she sang on various jingles and recordings, served as mezzo soprano soloist for the Lakestreet Church in Evanston, Illinois, and performed as an ensemble member and featured soloist with The Lakeside Singers, a professional chorale under the direction of Robert Bowker. In addition to performing,
Ms. Swartout-Bebow has enjoyed teaching privately for seventeen years, and has served on the faculties of Grand Valley State University and the School for the Performing Arts – Ann Arbor. In addition to joining the voice faculty at Eastern Michigan University as an adjunct voice instructor, she is currently the private voice teacher-in-residence at both Huron High School and Saline High School, and maintains a private studio at Ann Arbor’s Kerrytown Concert House.
Ms. Swartout-Bebow holds a Master’s Degree with Highest Honors in voice performance from The University of Michigan where she was awarded the Joy Whitman Weinberger Award for showing outstanding potential in the field of opera.
Monica Swartout-Bebow
342 Alexander
734-487-2320
mswartou@emich.edu