Mezzo-Soprano
Recipient of the
Gerald R. Bischof Audience Choice Award
Mary Beth Nelson, mezzo-soprano, completed her Bachelor of Music degree at the Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University in May of 2014. Roles at the Bass School included Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Nicklausse/La Muse in Les contes d’Hoffmann, and Dorabella in Così fan tutte. While an undergraduate, she was a frequent winner in the Texoma Regional and Oklahoma District NATS competitions. Her voice teacher was Frank Wayne Ragsdale and her vocal coach was Jan McDaniel.
Ms. Nelson spent her summer of 2012 in Salzburg, Austria, where she trained with coaches Mary Dibbern and Thomas Enman, studied voice with her teacher, Dr. Ragsdale, and was a frequent guest at events in the Salzburg Festival. The following summer she studied in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Harrower Summer Opera Workshop under the direction of Carroll Freeman. Here, she made her Southern U.S. debut as Nicklausse/La Muse in Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann, directed by Copeland Woodruff.
In January of 2014 Ms. Nelson competed in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in the Tulsa district and won a Trudy Oliphant Young Encouragement Award. Later in February, she was awarded an Emerging Talent Award in the Lotte Lenya Competition from the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music. The following March, she received the 1st Place prize and People’s Choice Award in the 16th annual International Crescendo Music Awards in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In the 9th Annual Lois Alba Aria Competition, she was a Finalist and the Gerald R. Bischof Top Audience Choice Award winner.
A native of Orange County, CA, Ms. Nelson studied for a year and a half at the Orange County School of the Arts in the Opera Conservatory under the artistic direction of Robin Follman. She has worked in master class settings with Frederica von Stade, Susanne Mentzer, Florence Birdwell, and Ron Raines.
In the summer of 2014, Ms. Nelson will attend the Seagle Music Colony in Schroon Lake, NY, as a young artist.
MaryBethNelsonMezzo.com
Sunday, June 1st, 2014
Dopo notte
from Handel’s ARIODANTE
The Composer’s Aria (Sein wir wieder gut)
from ARIADNE auf NAXOS by R. Strauss
Gerald R. Bischof with Mary Beth
