“Blessed with great theatrics…as well as a resonant voice. Excellent interpretation.”-The American Prize

Vanessa Naghdi, Soprano, made her New York City debut with Emruz Festival this past season. She also premiered with Refugee Orchestra Project conducted by Maestra Lidiya Yankovskaya at Music Worcester and performed Seeking You with the cycle’s composer, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, at Longy School of Music of Bard College.

She created the role of the Narrator in the premiere of the one-woman multimedia opera, Zal & the Phoenix, in her return to Catalyst New Music last season. She also performed her curated program of Songs Old + New to a sold-out audience. Ms. Naghdi recently made her international debut as Cleopatra with Opéra Queens. She also covered the role of Arsinoë in the world premiere of Cleopatra Built with the company. Engagements this season include premiering the song cycle T/O/A/M with Catalyst New Music.

Previous seasons saw Ms. Naghdi cover the titular role of Marie in La fille du régiment with St. Petersburg Opera Company. She performed the role of Flora in La Traviata with MassOpera and created the role of Linda in the premiere of Reap What You Soul with Promenade Opera Project. She also sang in the premiere of The Ritual of Breath is the Rite to Resist at Dartmouth College. Ms. Naghdi returned to Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras for their production of Don Carlo following their production of Norma. She joined the Salem Philharmonic Orchestra as the Soprano Soloist for Exsultate, jubilate and was the Soprano Soloist in Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Newburyport Choral Society. Ms. Naghdi also made her recital debut at the New England Conservatory of Music in a concert of new music.

As a recent Artist in Residence with Opera Colorado, Ms. Naghdi reprised her role of Nannetta in Falstaff under the baton of Maestro Ari Pelto. She created the role of Mrs. Soep and covered Ina Soep in the premiere of the opera Steal a Pencil for Me by composer Gerald Cohen and librettist Deborah Brevoort. She also performed the roles of Adina in The Elixir of Love and Clorinda in Cinderella (touring productions) and covered the role of Musetta in La bohème with Opera Colorado. Past seasons have seen Ms. Naghdi as Rusalka in The Littlest Mermaid and Pamina/1st Lady in The Mini-Magic Flute with Arizona Opera. She returned to Arizona Opera and performed the roles of Sparrow/Baker in Brundibár (piano concert). A frequent creator of new music, she premiered indigenous micro-operas and songs with Arizona Opera and the Grand Canyon Music Festival. She also debuted the role of Tormentilla in The Poisoned Kiss (piano concert, Vaughan Williams) with Passion Project: Opera and premiered the titular role in Mignon with Arizona Chamber Opera.

Ms. Naghdi performed the role of Liat with Annapolis Opera in their production of South Pacific. She created the role of Lady Helen in the premiere of the musical Spellbound! with Southwest Shakespeare Company. She also created the role of Diane Slawyer in the premiere of the musical Endangered! at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She has portrayed Christine Daaé in excerpts from The Phantom of the Opera with both Arizona Opera and the Pocono Mountains Music Festival. Ms. Naghdi has been the Soprano Soloist in excerpts from Messiah, for Rutter's Magnificat, Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, and Bach’s Der Herr denket an uns, BWV 196. She also performed as a soloist with the Washington Women’s Concert Series at the Strathmore Music Center.

Ms. Naghdi made her operatic debut as Amy March in Little Women with Nightingale Opera Theatre. She has portrayed Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica and Solo Angel in Die Jungfrau von Orléans with the Mittelsächsisches Theater and Philharmonic conducted by Maestro Jan Horstmann. She has also performed the titular role in Amelia al ballo and Belinda in Dido and Aeneas, among others. Ms. Naghdi has been awarded by the Dorothy Lincoln Smith Voice Competition, Opera Connecticut, The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston, and won Second Place in The American Prize in Vocal Performance. She has received the Opportunity Fund from the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture.

The details provided are for informational purposes only and should not be reproduced.