Noted for her "strong" voice and "dramatic conviction" (New York Times), Devony Smith is a versatile vocalist excelling in both contemporary and traditional repertoire. A California native, Devony makes her mark on New York City as a professional member of Musica Viva NY, where she has recently performed chamber music with Aeolus Quartet, as well as solos for Vivaldi’s Gloria, and Bach's Magnificat. Last year, Devony made her first appearance at Carnegie Hall in the finals of the Lyndon Woodside

Oratorio competition where she was the recipient of the Lyndon Woodside award. This season, Devony will appear singing Chants d’Auvergne with Brooklyn Art Song Society, Mahler Symphony no. 4 with the Colburn Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Yehuda Gilad, and a staged production of Schumann’s Dichterliebe with New Orchestra of Washington. She will create the role of “The Lover” in the world premiere Kate Soper’s highly anticipated new opera, The Romance of the Rose. Devony will also appear as a semi-finalist in the Young Concert Artists Competition this fall at Merkin Concert Hall. 

 

A champion of art song, Devony made her Lincoln Center recital debut as the Grand Prize Winner of the MIMF Art Song competition. At Carnegie Hall, she participated in the prestigious Song Continues Workshop with Marilyn Horne, Renée Fleming, and Graham Johnson. This year she presented a recital in partnership with Carnegie Hall’s Citywide Concerts with her frequent collaborator, Nikolay Verevkin. As a “Schwab Vocal Rising Star” through Caramoor and New York Festival of Song, Devony presented recitals curated by Steve Blier at Caramoor and at Merkin Concert Hall. Also with New York Festival of Song, Devony performed the world premiere of a song cycle curated by Laura Kaminsky with poetry by Elaine Sexton, which she performed with “breathtaking, tear-jerking, empathy” (Classical Voice America). 

 

Devony particularly relishes the opportunity to perform contemporary works. As a part of Opera Forum: New Works at Cincinnati Opera, she recently workshopped the title role in Matthew Aucoin’s New Opera, Eurydice, a Metropolitan Opera and Los Angeles Opera co-commission. As a Sorel Fellow at Songfest, she performed John Harbison’s Simple Daylight at Zipper Hall for Harbison’s 80th Birthday celebration. As a 2017 fellow at Ravinia Steans Music Institute, she collaborated with composer William Bolcom in a concert of his art songs. As a Marc and Eva Stern Fellow at Songfest in 2013, she performed the world premiere of Ben Moore’s "John and Abigail" and the west coast premiere of John Musto's "Six Scottish Songs." While earning her M.M. in Dawn Upshaw’s Graduate Vocal Arts Program at Bard College, she created the lead role in Shawn Jaeger’s opera, Payne Hollow, collaborated on concerts of contemporary music with Pulitzer Prize winning composer Joan Tower, and performed the world premiere of Daniela DeMatos’ “Encounter,” to high praise from both the New York Times and the Boston Classical Review. 

Recently on the operatic stage, Devony performed Kate Soper’s self-accompanied opera Here Be Sirens at National Sawdust, Micaela (Carmen) at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center, Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) with Bronx Opera, Cendrillon with Utopia Opera. Devony's theatrical experiences have been a rich compliment to her classical training. At Smother’s Theater in Malibu, she appeared in many theatrical productions. Her roles included Irene Molloy in Hello, Dolly! and Mother Jones in Robert Shenkkan’s The Kentucky Cycle, a seven-hour-long play in which she also sang Appalachian folk ballads and played the fiddle. Smith received her B.A. from Pepperdine University, where she performed Meg in Adamo’s Little Women.