Mezzo soprano Amy Pickering has blended a career of opera, operetta, musical theater, concert and ensemble work. She has performed leading roles with the Grant Park Music Festival, Central City Opera and the Colorado Symphony, Chicago Opera Theater, Light Opera Works, Chicago Folks Operetta and the Muddy River Opera Company. Favorite roles include Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, the Muse/Nicklausse in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Phoebe in Yeomen of the Guard, the title role in Iolanthe, Lucy Harris in Jekyll and Hyde, Molly Gray in Girl Crazy, among others. For her performance as Princess Rosemarie in the U.S. premiere of Kalman’s Duchess of Chicago, the Chicago Tribune declared, “Amy Joan Pickering not only displayed an appealing voice, she turned the stick-figure character into a person.” Concert work includes performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Orchestra Hall and at the Ravinia Festival, the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Elgin Choral Union, Handel Week Festival, Elmhurst Choral Union, and the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, with works including Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C Minor, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, and Handel’s Messiah, Theodora, Ezio, Saul, and Israel in Egypt. Ensemble work includes professional appearances as a member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus (with whom she has one several Grammy awards and has served as the Alto I section leader,) the Grant Park Chorus, Chicago a cappella, and Table for Five. Amy holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from DePaul University and a Master of Music degree from Northwestern University. She is on faculty at University of Illinois at Chicago and Elmhurst College.