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The American coloratura soprano, Maia Julianne Thielen, obtained her her Bachelor of Arts degree in Music at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV), from which she graduated magna cum laude (2014-2017). She studied there with American baritone Dr. Tod Fitzpatrick. Due to her impressive range and facility, she was thrilled to perform the counter-tenor role of Oberon in Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as Captain Franz von Frauenliebe in Dan Shore’s neoclassical comedy The Beautiful Bridegroom, and as Le Loup and La Soeur Ainée in Milhaud’s Les Malheurs d’Orfée. She was also featured as the soprano, alto, and counter-tenor soloists in Purcell’s Come, Ye Sons of Art. She won multiple competitions and awards during her time at UNLV, including the Sigma Alpha Iota Las Vegas Alumnae Music Scholarship Competition (2014), the Outstanding Graduating Senior Award (2017), and a local NATS competition. In the summer of 2015, she attended AIMS in Graz, at which she performed in recitals of Lieder for Austrian locals, and the following summer, performed as Charlotte Malcolm in the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival’s production of Sondheim’s A Little Night Music.
Maia Thielen earned her Master of Music in Voice Performance in June 2019 from the University of Washington (UW), where she studied with internationally renowned tenor Thomas Harper (2017-2019). She is a teacher and performer interested in the pursuit of singing as a tool for healing, strength, affirmation, and beauty. She recently returned home to Bozeman, Montana to follow her passion of creating a more accessible path to the study of art song for students and audiences of all ages and backgrounds. During her Master’s studies, she became known for her ability to deftly handle contemporary and atonal music, finishing her degree with a recital program of Alban Berg's Sieben Frühe Lieder, B. Britten's On This Island, Satie’s Ludions, and J.S. Bach's Cantata Non sa che sia dolore, BWV 209, as well as performing Morton Feldman’s For Franz Kline with the UW Modern Ensemble, and Dr. Yiheng Yvonne Wu’s Four Poems of Li-Young Lee with her duo partner, sound artist and percussionist Edward Cunneen. She also presented a defense of her Masters’s Topics, with research covering subjects such as the treatment of Shakespeare’s text in B. Britten's A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Romantic Sublime, the history of opera in the 19th century American Golden West, the treatment of performance anxiety, and analyses of the songs and styles of Libby Larsen, Benjamin Britten, Samuel Barber, and Robert Schumann.
At UW, Maia Thielen performed as Zerlina in scenes from W.A. Mozart’s Don Giovanni, covered the roles of L’Enfant and La tasse chinoise in Maurice Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, was featured as the alto soloist in J.S. Bach’s Gottes Zeit its die allerbeste Zeit, BWV 106, and was selected to be a soloist in Kathleen Battle’s Underground Railroad: A Spiritual Journey by Kathleen Battle, herself. Her first Master’s recital featured works by Samuel Barber, Schubert, Rossini, and Gabriel Fauré. During her years in Seattle, Maia also served as a cantor and soprano section leader at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
Maia Thielen is privileged to have worked with many wonderful and accomplished directors and conductors such as Jennifer McGregor, Stephen Stubbs, David Rohrbaugh, Deanne Meek, Lorna Haywood, David Weiller, Linda Lister, and Taras Krysa. She has also been coached by Barbara Bonney, Paul Flloyd, Timothy Hoekman, Dean Williamson, Christina Wright-Ivanova, and Val Underwood. Since August 2019, she sings with Bozeman Symphony Orchestra & Symphonic Choir in Bozeman, Montana. |
