Renée Favand-See is active in the Portland area as a mezzo-soprano focused on performing contemporary and 20th century works. In recent months on the Cascadia Composers Series, she premiered new works by Bonnie Miksch, Jeff Winslow, Elizabeth Blachly-Dyson and Dennis Floyd, as well as a couple songs of her own. This past year, she has enjoyed singing with Resonance Ensemble and recording with Oregon Catholic Press. This coming year, she looks forward to repeat engagements with those groups, a second performance of Bonnie’s Miksch’s new song cycle, debuting with Cappella Romana this winter, and a solo recital in the spring.
Other appearances in recent years include Community Music Center’s Chamber Series, Lewis & Clark College Composers Forums, Outer Voices NYC, New Music New Haven, Walden School’s Faculty Artist Showcase, and Collegium Musicum. Renée has served as soloist at Christ Church in New York City, Battell Chapel Choir in New Haven and Christ Church in Westport. She has performed with numerous vocal chamber ensembles including the Empire Chorus Ensemble, Yale Camerata and Chamber Choir, Eastman Chorale and Collegium Musicum, Baltimore Opera Chorus, and Walden School Faculty Singers.
With her background as a composer, her chosen repertoire has a decidedly 20th Century slant, with projects including numerous world premieres, Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, Crumb’s Madrigals (Books I-IV), and Ravel’s Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé. She has also delved into and loves performing traditional art song repertoire, including Schumann’s Spanisches Liederspiel and Liederkreis, Op. 39, and Poulenc’s La courte paille (the latter two pieces will be included on her recital program this spring).
Renée has been singing her whole life long–making up little songs from the age of three; singing with the Children’s Chorus of Maryland at nine; starting voice lessons at Peabody Prep at twelve; majoring in voice at the Baltimore School for the Arts in high school; concentrating in voice for her undergraduate and masters degrees in composition at Eastman and Yale (where she had the privilege of working with Masako Toribara and Lili Chookasian); and after the degrees were done, studying with Chloe Owen and Ruth Rainero in New York City, and now in Portland with the wonderful and wise Nancy Olson-Chatalas. She loves the joyful expression of singing in all kinds of settings.
Renée is also a composer and teacher. This year, she’ll be teaching composition at Portland State University and theory with the Portland Youth Philharmonic.