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The American mezzo-soprano, Michaela Wolz, obtained her Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance with Opera Emphasis (2017), and Master of Music degree in Opera Performance (2019) from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where she was the recipient of the Gerry and Steve Ricci Scholarship. Her main teachers there were Rebecca Folsom, Johnathon Pape, Michael Strauss, and Andrew Altenbach. Her training has included past resident artist apprenticeships with International Meistersinger Akademie (Neumarkt, Germany, 2019), Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (2017, 2018), and Seagle Music Colony (2016). In spring 2019, she was awarded first prize in the Dorothy Lincoln-Smith Classical Voice Competition through the National Society of Arts and Letters. She has also been recognized as a finalist in the international Getting to Carnegie Competition (2017). As part of the competition, she premiered Julian Gargiulo’s newly-composed cycle, Songs from the Fork, performing in the prestigious Weill Recital Hall. She was named a 2019 Grand Finals Winner by the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions,
Michaela Wolz trained at The Boston Conservatory, where her numerous mainstage performances were lauded for their “immense skill in both solo and ensemble singing” and for their “radiant” voice (The Boston Musical Intelligencer). While completing their studies in Boston, she was seen as Dorabella in W.A. Mozart's Così fan tutte (2018), Mère Marie in Francis Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites (2018), Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking, (2017), Presendia in Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters (2017), Bradamante in George Frideric Handel's Alcina (2016), Cherubino in W.A. Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro (2016), and Stewardess in Flight (2015).
Michaela Wolz has spent the last summers with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (2013-2019), taking part in their Gerdine Young Artist and Gaddes Festival Artist programs (2017, 2018). Her most recent performance in The Coronation of Poppea (2019) was highlighted by Opera News for their “creamy mezzo and mischievous spark as Amore.” At the company, they also covered Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro (2019), Pvt. Stanton in An American Soldier (2018), and Annio in W.A. Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito (2017). Outside of their mainstage season, she has participated in concerts, workshops of new operas, and outreach, most notably portraying Angelina in a reduced version of La Cenerentola for children around the St. Louis area (2019).
Last season (2018-2019), Michaela Wolz joined pianist Steven Blier in the New York Festival of Song Killer B’s tour, performing the concert at the Tucson Desert Song Festival, the Century Club in New York City, and Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. She then returned to New York City to take part in the Opera America Emerging Artists Recital featuring Seagle Music Colony alumni.
Michaela Wolz joins Arizona Opera as a member of the Marion Roose Pullin Opera Studio for the 2020-2021 season. Praised by Opera News for their “keen sense of character,” she will cover the role of Addison in the world premiere of The Copper Queen and can be seen in her mainstage debut as Mercèdes in Georges Bizet's Carmen. On the concert stage, engagements include debuts with the Phoenix Symphony, performing George Frideric Handel's Messiah and L.v. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, and Opera Edwardsville, presenting a program of Renaissance and Baroque motets with renowned harpsichordist Jory Vinikour.
Michaela Wolz currently resides in New York City. |
