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The American mezzo-soprano (and contralto), Melinda Paulsen, studied music at the Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, the USA. With ‘Bachelor of Arts’ with honour she came in 1988 to Germany and continued her singing study at the Munich College of Music with Professor Daphne Evangelatos in the master class which she finished in 1991. During this time she extended her repertoire with Professor Helmut Deutsch in the area of Lieder and Professor Diethard Hellmann in the oratorio. Afterwards she was engaged by the Opera Studio of the Bavarian State Opera, where she compiled opera roles with Astrid Varnay and participated in different productions in the national theatre. In 1992 she won the second prize (a first price was not assigned) in the renowned international ARD competition.
Melinda Paulsen sings with renowned conductors such as Helmuth Rilling, Enoch zu Guttenberg, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Marek Janowski and Roberto Abbado.
An appearance led Melinda Paulsen in 1996 to Klagenfurt for a new production of the W.A. Mozart's La Finta Giardiniera (direction: Christof Loy), where her Don Ramiro became a critic success. She appeared at important international festivals, such as Wratislavia Cantans in Poland and the Bregenz Festival in Austria and in Maulbronn in George Frideric Handel’s Jephta with Emma Kirkby. At present she is also assigned training for singing at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz.
Apart from her activities in the opera scene Melinda Paulsen is sought-after as Lieder and concert singer. She has made several CD recordings, e.g. Ersteinspielungen wie Lieder of Nadia Boulanger, or the W.A. Mozart's concert aria Ch'io mi scordi di te? with original instruments. The fact that her organization strength does not make stop also with works of J.S. Bach is held among other things in her participation in the current Bavarian Broadcast series of J.S. Bach Cantatas. She is to be heard also as contralto singer recording of J.S. Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium (BWV 248) under Enoch zu Guttenberg. To her opera recordings belong the role Isaura in Rossini’s Tancredi and the role of Puck in Weber’s Oberon, both on BMG Classics. |
