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Melissa
Unkel
Mezzo-Soprano | Click Here
for repertoire
Melissa Unkel,
mezzo-soprano, is a native of Kansas. She graduated
summa cum laude from Wichita State University, and received
a Master of Music from the University of Maryland. She was
an apprentice at the Dorian Opera Theatre in 2000 and a member of
the Anchorage Opera Studio Theatre in 2001. While
in Alaska, Ms. Unkel performed on the mainstage of Anchorage Opera
and traveled to native communities to take part in cultural exchange
performances. She has performed numerous operatic and musical
theatre roles including the title role in Carmen, Dorabella
(Cosi fan tutte), Lelia (Iolanthe), Blanche (Dialogues
of the Carmelites), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro),
Phoebe (Yeomen of the Guard), Stephano (Romeo et Juliette),
Orlovsky (Die Fledermaus), Giovanna (Rigoletto) and
Nellie (South Pacific). A specialist in the operetta’s
of Gilbert and Sullivan, she has been hailed as “appealing both
vocally and comedically” (Kansas City Star) for her work in this
genre.
Concert
engagements include Handel’s Messiah, the Vivaldi Gloria,
Haydn Lord Nelson Mass, Bach’s Missa Brevis in G and
Missa Brevis in A, Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation
Mass, and the Monteverdi Vespers. She was a District
winner in the 2001 Metropolitan Opera Competition, and the recipient
of an artistic grant from the Kansas Cultural Trust in 2000. She
recorded On a Seasonal Note for the American Lupus Foundation/
Crane Records and was featured as the mezzo soloist in “A Joyous
Christmas Concert with Sylvia McNair” at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal
Church in 2002.
Recent
performances included Pitti-Sing (Mikado) at City Center,
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and Wolf Trap with the
New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players. Ms.
Unkel resides in New York and studies with Norma Newton.
Repertoire
| Giovanna/Maddalena |
Rigoletto |
| Stephano
|
Romeo
et Juliette |
| Dorabella
|
Cosi
fan tutte |
| Alisa |
Lucia
di Lammermoor |
| Carmen |
Carmen |
Foreign
Singer/
Lady with a Hatbox |
Postcard
from Morocco |
| Blanche |
Dialogues
of the Carmelites |
| Lola
|
Cavalleria
Rusticana |
| Arminda |
La
finta giardiniera |
| Despina |
Cosi
fan tutte |
| Grandmother/Mother |
Little
Red Riding Hood |
| Sandman
|
Hansel
and Gretel |
| |
| Phoebe
|
Yeomen
of the Guard |
| Leila
|
Iolanthe |
| Mayor |
Stone
Soup |
| Orlovsky
|
Die
Fledermaus |
| Actor
II |
Les
Moose |
| Buttercup
|
HMS
Pinafore |
| |
| Cherubino/Marcellina |
Le
nozze di Figaro |
| Carmen |
Carmen
(P. Brook version) |
| Maddalena |
Rigoletto
|
| Annio |
La
clemenza di Tito |
| Rosina |
Il
barbiere di Siviglia |
| Cenerentola |
La
Cenerentola |
| Giovanna |
Anna
Bolena |
| |
| Iolanthe |
Iolanthe |
| Kate |
Pirates
of Penzance |
| Helene |
Helene |
|
