“Pollock’s countertenor...blended astoundingly well with Melissa McCann’s rich soprano. Her Euridice was sublimely acted, and her arias articulate and moving. Only McCann and Pollock could make a lovers’ spat sound so pretty.”

New University

Hailed for her “great sense of line and legato,” soprano Melissa McCann is a rising young talent in opera. She was named winner of the Riverside Opera Auditions (2020), NATS-LA Young Artist Auditions (2014), and Redlands Bowl Young Artist Auditions (2014).

The upcoming season includes role debuts as Adina in L’elisir d’amore (Missouri Valley Chamber Orchestra), Elena in A Visit to Baba Yaga, Dancer in Tin Heart, Tinsel Rose, and Tree (cover) in Winter Giant as part of Fairy Tale Suite (Badlands Opera Project). She returns to Winifred Smith Hall at University of California, Irvine as a guest recitalist.

In the 2022-23 season, McCann appeared as the Soprano Soloist in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri (Dakota Pro Musica), Soprano Soloist in Handel’s Messiah (Missouri Valley Chamber Orchestra), and as a guest soloist with the McKinney Philharmonic. Recent role debuts include Fortuna in Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria (dell’Arte Opera Ensemble), Pertelote in the world premiere of Chanticleer (Dakota Pro Musica), and Soprano Soloist in Mozart’s Requiem (Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra).

Career highlights include her Carnegie Hall debut under the baton of Kristof Van Grysperre and her performance of the American National Anthem for President Barack Obama at the University of California, Irvine 50th Anniversary Celebration. Operatic highlights include her critically acclaimed performance of Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos (Highlands Opera Studio) as “particularly charming” (Opera Canada); Xanthe in Die liebe der Danae (Pittsburgh Festival Opera); Lucy in Three Penny Opera (Pacific Opera Theatre); Polissena in Radamisto (Accademia Europa dell’Opera); and Musetta in La Bohème (Opera San José). McCann currently serves as Professor of Voice and Director of the Vocal Arts Ensemble at the University of Mary, in Bismarck, North Dakota.