Canadian Indigenous mezzo-soprano Michelle Lafferty is from Tłichó Nation, Northwest Territories. She now resides in Calgary, Alberta.

Michelle is a Dora Award winner known for her “powerful presence, vocally and physically, on stage” (Barczablog, 2023). She continues her work with The Banff Centre for the Performing Arts program for Indigenous Classical Musicians Gathering and on Indigenous Musical Sovereignty. She is also working with Calgary Opera on a new opera, Namwayut, an opera about Indigenous resilience.

One of her latest works is with Soundstreams on their production of Two Odysseys: Pimooteewin / Gállábártnit in 2020. In 2021, she was part of a project on improvisation led by Parmela Attariwala, Germaine Liua, and Nicole Ramperaud, called Understory. Understory is a web-based, inter-provincial series dedicated to showcasing improvising artists working across Canada, and to building a network between the artists and their audiences. The piece performed and created between Understory, Viviane Houle, Danielle Jakubiak, and Michelle is called “We were children,” and came from around the time the 215 graves were found in Kamloops, British Columbia, and was taken from this project and shared nationally on Truth and Reconciliation Day September 30th, 2022. A Bandcamp was created for people to be able to purchase this, with all proceeds continuing to go to residential school survivors.

In 2022, she was a performer in “Kisaageetin,” a concert of Tomson Highway’s with the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. “The Indigidivas” is her newest venture alongside Allegra Chamber Orchestra with Director Janna Sailor, who provides production and financial support. The Indigidivas include Melody Courage, Rebecca Cuddy, and Michelle Lafferty, with performances starting in 2024.

In 2023, she had her American debut in Missing, composed by Brian Current with libretti by Marie Clements, performing the role of Native Mother with Anchorage Opera Alaska. Currently, she is working with Manitoba Opera in Li Keur, with libretto by Dr. Suzanne Steele and composition by Neil Weisensel/Alex Kusturok.