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The Brazilian-American-Chinese mezzo-soprano, Melissa Zgouridi, obtained her Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York (May 2015), where she studied with Robert McIver; and her Master of Musid degree in Lied and Oratorio with distinction from the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg, Austria (2018), where she participated in the master's program "Lied and Oratorio" and took lessons from Michèle Crider, Thérèse Lindquist and Josef Wallnig. She completed additional training and residencies with the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center (USA), Exzellenz Labor Gesang with Hedwig Fassbender & René Massis (Germany), Eppaner Liedsommer with Kammersängerin Brigitte Fassbaender (South Tyrol), the Canto Vocal Program (online) with Lucy Arner, Liora Maurer & Sharon Mohar & with Opera Saratoga in an online version of their 2020 Young Artist program; and took part in master-classes with Brigitte Fassbaender, Michaela Schuster and Graham Johnson.
Melissa Zgouridi is the recipient of numerous prizes & awards. She was most recently a finalist and the recipient of the “Eva Kleinitz Award” at the 2021 Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino (Jury Chairman: Dominique Meyer), a semi-finalist in the Paris Opera Competition & was selected as a recipient of the 2021 Bayreuth Scholarship by the International Richard Wagner Association. She was the winner of the 5th Prize & the extraordinary prize “Mercedes Viñas” at the 57th International Tenor Viñas Competition at the Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona (January 2020), a District Winner of the 2020 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the recipient of the 2nd Prize in both the “Lied & Oratorio” and “Opera” categories of the The American Prize Competition. Further accolades include the 1st prize in the Friends of Eastman Opera Vocal Competition (2014), Lynne Clarke Singing Competition (2014), Orpheus Singing Competition (2015), “Young Talent Award” at the Immling Festival’s International Singing Competition (2016), and she also was the recipient of a 2015-2016 Fulbright Grant.
In the Janiec Opera Company's Young Artist program at the Brevard Music Center, Melissa Zgouridi sang Dame Quickly in Falstaff in 2013 and Kaylee the Dating Coordinator in the world premiere of Michael Ching's black box opera Speed Dating Tonight, and in 2015 Augusta Tabor in The Ballad of Baby Doe by Douglas Moore. Her operatic repertoire includes Olga in Eugene Onegin, Bastien inW.A. Mozart's Bastien und Bastienne, Mère Jeanne in Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, Amastre in George Frideric Handel's Serse, and Bradamante in G.F. Handel's Alcina (Mozarteum, December 2017).
Melissa Zgouridi has appeared in various concerts & projects throughout Europe. She was a featured soloist in L.v. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 at the 2017 St. Gellert Festival in Hungary. In 2019, she sang Roßweiße in a concert version of Wagner's Die Walküre, conducted by Maestro Domonkos Héja, at the Staatstheater Augsburg in Germany. That same year, she performed as a Lehrbuben in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, conducted by Christian Thielemann & directed by Jens-Daniel Herzog, at the Salzburg Easter Festival. In the Summer of 2020, she was scheduled to make her role debut as Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at Opera Saratoga (USA) and was selected to be a Britten-Pears Young Artist in the course with Anne Sofie von Otter & Malcolm Martineau at the Aldeburgh Festival (UK) - both engagements were cancelled due to COVID-19.
A passionate oratorio & concert performer, Melissa Zgouridi has been heard as a soloist in J.S. Bach's Matthäus-Passion (BWV 244), Antonio Vivaldi's Magnificat, Haydn's Scena di Berenice & Paukenmesse, G.F. Handel's Messiah, W.A. Mozart's Coronation Mass, Requiem & Mass in C Major Piccolomini, L.v. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 & Symphony No. 3 and Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, in Austria, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands & the USA.
Hailed for her “enchantingly beautiful mezzo, strong characterization & [voice] full of colors” (Saarbrücker Zeitung), Melissa Zgouridi, is quickly making a name for herself both in Europe & in her native USA. In January 2021, she began a half-year contract at the Saarländisches Staatstheater, where she performed the 3rd Weird Sister in Pascal Dusapin's Macbeth Underworld in Saarbrücken & at the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg. She was subsequently invited to join the ensemble starting in 2021-2022. Her roles this season include Ruggiero in G.F. Handel's Alcina, Dryade in Ariadne auf Naxos & Mercédès in Georges Bizet's Carmen. In addition to her productions in Saarbrücken, in October 2021, Melissa performed Alban Berg's Sieben frühe Lieder with ensembleKONTRASTE under the baton of Maestro Jac van Steen in Nürnberg.
In addition to singing, Melissa Zgouridi is the founder of her own small business. Melissa Zgouridi Studios is a creative studio with a focus on photography & web design services for musicians & artists. |
