Coloratura soprano Osceola Davis made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1981 as the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflote in the Marc Chagall production. The New Jersey native is perhaps best known for this role and she has performed it with great success also in Finland at the Savonlinna Festival and at the Opera de Lyon. She has consistently achieved highest praise from critics in the United States and abroad from her performances. When Ms. Davis appeared in a gala operatic concert in Cambridge, Massachusetts in December of 1995, The Boston Globe singled her out for special praise: "...there was delightful singing from Osceola Davis, silvery in Zerbinetta's aria from 'Ariadne auf Naxos.'" Of her Carnegie Recital Hall debut in 1985, the New York Times described her voice as being 'clear, vibrant and full, right up to the high F region."

    Ms. Davis' European debut was at the Staatstheater am Gartnerplatz in Munich as Rosina in Rossini's Il Barbier di Siviglia, and the Suddeutsche Zeitung raved that she has "A voice with unlimited capability." She was also featured at the Gartnerplatz in such roles as Blondchen in Mozart's Die Enfuhrung aus dem Serail and Olympia in Les contes d'Hoffman.

    A favorite with Finnish audiences, she has appeared with the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos and Gilda in Rigoletto, and she has performed many times at the Savonlinna Festival, both as the Queen of the night and in concerts. The Helsingin Sanomat noted that "her appearance combines most delicate gracefulness and great strength with a nightingale-like voice."

    Artistic director of the Savonlinna Festival and Metropolitan Opera baritone Jorma Hynninen has joined Ms. Davis in concerts at the festival and in New York. They have also made a recording together, "Negro Spirituals," on the Ondine Label. Ms. Davis also has recorded a selection of religious music entitled "The Lord Is My Shepherd" on the label of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, and has appeared on both American and European television.

    Ms. Davis has collaborated with such distinguished conductors as Franz Allers, Hans Graf, Erich Leinsdorf, Eve Queler, Max Rudolf, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Leif Segerstam and Jeffrey Tate, as well as the directors August Everding and Bodo Igesz.

    In concert, Ms. Davis has performed at major venues in Boston, Helsinki, Munich, New York and Philadelphia, and includes in her current repertoire such works as Adam's Bravura Variations, the Gliere Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra, Handel's Messiah, Orff's Carmina Burana, Requiems of Faure and Brahms, as well as Mozart's Exsultate, jubilate, Mass in c Minor, and the concert arias Voi avete un cor fedele, Sperai vicino il lido and Mia speranza adorata. Her Carnegie Hall orchestral debut was singing the "Shadow Song" from Meyerbeer's Dinorah, which she studied with the late Estelle Liebling. While still in Munich, she performed and recorded Bert Grund's "Vocalise," which he had written for her unusual voice, with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra.