She was Suzuki in Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Nicklausse in Jacques Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Carmen in Georges Bizet's Carmen and many more.
Annette R. Daniels '84 amassed critical acclaim as a mezzo-soprano in performances with numerous opera companies throughout the United States — including Houston, Washington D.C., Dallas, San Diego, Cincinnati and Portland — and in South Africa and Europe. Performing in the French première of Carlisle Floyd's Susannah at the Nantes Opera and as Nicklausse in Les Contes d'Hoffmann with the New Israeli Opera are two of Daniels' international successes.
Born and raised in Wichita, Daniels graduated from Wichita State with honors and a master's degree in voice performance and French, before establishing herself as a sought-after opera singer and vocal teacher.
One of her many friends and colleagues, actor Michael Blevins, wrote of her and her talent, "Annette had a gorgeous voice, eyes which lit up the stage and a giant personality which grabbed her audiences and held them." And soprano Anita Johnson, in her tribute to Daniels, wrote simply that she would miss "the pleasure of hearing her voice."
Annette Renee Daniels died March 27 at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.
