HEIDI MELTON
Photo by Andrew Finden
Soprano
Young American dramatic soprano Heidi Melton has been called “the Wagnerian voice we have been waiting for since Flagstad and Nilsson” (La Presse), with a voice that is “big, gleaming and tonally resplendent” (San Francisco Chronicle). She begins the 2019-2020 season as Sieglinde in Act I of Die Walküre in her debut with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Karina Canellakis conducting, and the Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mark Russell Smith. Additional engagements include returns to the Badische Staatskapelle for Erwartung, Justin Brown conducting, Deutsche Oper Berlin for Gertrud in Hänsel und Gretel, and a debut at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino for concert performances of Leonore in Fidelio, conducted by Zubin Mehta.
Last season, Ms. Melton returned to Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe for performances of Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung, following critically acclaimed performances of the entire Ring Cycle last season. She also debuts with NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and Alan Gilbert in Le grand macabre. Ms. Melton recently returned to the New York Philharmonic as Sieglinde in Act I of Die Walküre and with the Dallas Symphony as Brünnhilde in a complete concert performance of Die Walküre, both conducted by Jaap van Zweden. She sang Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 as the Second Soprano with Tonkünstler Orchester and Andres Orozco-Estrada in Vienna. In New York City, she sang a recital for the George London Foundation at the Morgan Library. She also debuted with the London Symphony Orchestra and Berlin Philharmonic in Ligeti’s Le grand macabre under Simon Rattle. She returned to the Hong Kong Philharmonic in concert performances of Siegfried which was recorded for Naxos and debuted at Houston Grand Opera as Gutrune in Götterdämmerung. She sang performances of Isolde with Valery Gergiev and the Mariisnky Orchestra for commercial recording.
Heidi has performed on the stages of Bayreuth, the Mariinsky Theater, Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Oper Frankfurt, Palau des Arts, Carnegie Hall, English National Opera, and Opera National de Bordeaux, and with the Vienna Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, BBC Proms, Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Tonkünstler Orchester, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Vail Music Festival.
She has recorded Die Walküre and Siegfried with the Hong Kong Philharmonic under Jaap van Zweden and has a forthcoming recording of Tristan and Isolde with the Mariinsky Orchestra, conducted by Valery Gergiev.
Heidi is a very proud Auntie, loves travel, cold weather and air conditioning, rainy days, coffee, fizzy beverages, baking, pajamas and crafternoons.