Mikeila McQueston

Composer-performer Mikeila McQueston (b. 1998) writes lyrical and engaging works that emphasize music’s rich capacity for storytelling. Praised as “most effective” (New York Concert Review), her compositions have been performed throughout the United States and Europe, including festivals and series such as Carnegie Hall’s DCINY, the TUTTI Festival, the Nief-Norf Summer Festival, and the Uuden Musiikin Lokakuu in Finland.

As a classically trained soprano, Mikeila nurtures a lifelong passion for vocal music. She has received commissions from the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the Cincinnati Song Initiative, Coro Vocati, and Metropolitan Opera bass, Kevin Burdette, among others. In 2022, she was named an inaugural Dominick Argento Fellow in Opera Composition by the National Opera Association and placed 2nd in the American Prize for her one-act opera, Aurelia.

Mikeila received her Bachelor of Music in Composition and Voice from Louisiana State University and dual Master of Music degrees in Composition and Voice from the University of Tennessee. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition at the University of Michigan.