Upshaw, Dawn (1960– )

US soprano. Her wide repertoire extends from classic operatic roles to modern popular songs. She is widely known through her recording of Henryk Górecki's 3rd Symphony; she also features in the Arditti quartet's recording of Schoenberg's second quartet (1994). She won several Grammy Awards for her vocal performances and recordings and became a MacArthur Foundation fellow, receiving a ‘genius grant’ from the institution in 2007.

She sang in the first US performance of Hindemith's Sancta Susanna in 1983, while at the Manhattan School of Music. She appeared in New York at the Metropolitan Opera House from 1985, as Echo (Ariadne), Despina, Sophie (Werther), and Susanna. In 1987 she appeared as Barbarina in Salzburg; she returned in 1992 to sing the Angel in Messiaen's St François d'Assise. Other roles include Pamina (London Promenade concerts, 1990) and Anne Trulove (Aix-en-Provence, 1992).