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The American lyric soprano, Rebecca Kellerman Petretta, grew up in a central Pennsylvania family of musicians, ended up being the only singer in a house full of instrumentalists. Her parents and older brother were all public school music teachers. Having played flute, piano, saxophone, and cello is high school, Rebecca put down the instruments when she fell in love with choral singing at Shenandoah University where she sung under the baton of Robert Shafer. After finishing her master’s degree, she worked as an accreditation coordinator for The National Association of Schools of Music, Dance, Theatre and Art and Design, before becoming a public school teacher in Jefferson County, WV.
Rebecca Kellerman has performed for audiences throughout the metropolitan area as a soloist and chorister in works ranging from medieval to 21st Century. Her opera roles have included Ino in George Frideric Handel’s Semele, Mrs. Gobineau in Menotti’s The Medium, Nella in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Mother in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors and various partial roles. As an oratorio singer, she has been soloist in performances of Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria, G.F. Handel’s Messiah and Israel in Egypt, Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion (BWV 245) and St. Luke Passion (BWV 246), numerous Bach cantatas, and many other oratorios.
Rebecca Kellerman now teaches voice lessons during the day and performs in the evenings. She commutes to Washington from Charles Town, WV (near Harpers Ferry), where she and her family live in a 250 year old log home just a short walk from many of the area’s historic landmarks. In addition to living in such a historic community, Rebecca loves the area’s recreational activities: two rivers for canoeing, plenty of trails to hike and bike, and Jefferson rock - the view that inspired Thomas Jefferson to declare the scene “worth a voyage across the Atlantic.” |
