At only 19 years old, Courtney Ann Mills made her first professional orchestral debut as soprano soloist for Beethoven's Egmont at the Chautauqua Festival and at only 23, Courtney began her career on the prestigious stage of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. An American soprano, born in Illinois, she trained at the renowned Interlochen Art Academy and the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.
An eclectic artist, she has given numerous concerts and recitals, from the United States to the African continent, broadcast on radio and television. She has also taken part in various festivals throughout Europe, including the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, Salzburg in Austria, the Grachenfestival in the Netherlands and the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Her performances have been honoured many times. Recent awards include the Salvator Licitra in Milan, the Teatro Reunione in Viterbo and the Beppe Tomaso in Reggio Calabria. She recently performed the roles of Madama Butterfly in Madama Butterfly (March 2019) and Brünhilde in Wagner's Die Walküre (April 2019) at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari. In 2020, in full quarantine, she performed on a balcony, the time for a short concert, followed on social networks by more than 12 million admirers, before interpreting Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana at the Teatro Unione in Viterbo. In 2020 – 2021 she will debut the role of Turandot in Petruzzelli in Bari and Oper im Steinbruch in St Margarethen, Austria.
In September 2020, in collaboration with Heineken, you participated in the opening of the Italian Grand Prix, singing the Mameli anthem on the circuit before taking part in the first performance of the OSE operera Festival in France. This summer, the OSE festival will take place in two French locations. Courtney will also give a French recital at the royal abbey of Nieul-sur-l'Autise in Vendée.
November 2020 saw the inauguration of Holy Deer Unplugged, a series of musical events organised by San Lorenzo Lodges and SF Events Italy, inside the former papal flat Holy Deer San Lorenzo City Lodge in Rome. Ms Mills performed as the first opera artist from the prestigious balcony overlooking Piazza Navona, the same location of the famous film "La grande bellezza".
Ms. Mills has won prizes and scholarships including the Verbier Festival, Olga Forrai Foundation, George Solti Foundation, Gerda Lissner, Giulio Gari competition, Licia Albanese Puccini Competition, and the title of Nico Castel Singer of the World competition at Carnegie Hall. She will soon return to the Petruzzelli in Bari for "Turandot" and to the Teatro Di Sofia for "Verdi" Requiem. She will then return to Seoul for "Turandot", and to Tokyo and Barcelona for "Nabucco".
