BIOGRAPHY
Hailed for her “enchantingly beautiful mezzo, strong characterization & [voice] full of colors” (Saarbrücker Zeitung), Melissa Zgouridi is quickly making a name for herself both in Europe & in her native USA. The young Brazilian-American-Chinese singer recently joined the ensemble of the Saarländisches Staatstheater . Whilst there she has performed Ruggiero in "Alcina", Dryade in "Ariadne auf Naxos", Mercédès in "Carmen", and the 3rd Weird Sister in Pascal Dusapin's "Macbeth Underworld" in Saarbrücken & at the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg.
In addition to her productions at the theater this season, Melissa sang Berg’s "Sieben frühe Lieder" with ensembleKONTRASTE under the baton of Maestro Jac van Steen in Nürnberg, appeared as the Guest Soloist in the "Symphony of Dreams" at the Musco Center for the Arts & performed the role of Ruggiero in "Alcina" with Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern in Ludwigshafen.
Zgouridi continues her tenure at Saarländisches Staatstheater in the 2022/2023 season, performing the title role of Carmen, Erda & Floßhilde in "Das Rheingold", Orlofsky in "Die Fledermaus", Flora in "La Traviata" and will create the role of Laertes in the World Premiere of Sarah Nemtsov’s "Ophelia". In May 2023, she will perform Erda at the Opéra Royal de Versailles in a concert version of "Das Rheingold".
-1.jpg)
"Zgouridi's darkly colored voice has expression, character, substance.
With her passionate interpretation & remarkable technique, she achieved by far the greatest success."
_____
M. FIEDLER (DAS OPERNGLAS)
Alcina | Saarländisches Staatstheater
Melissa is the recipient of numerous prizes & awards. She was most selected as a grantee of the Olga Forrai Foundation. She is a recipient “Eva Kleinitz Award” at the 2021 Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino (Jury Chairman: Dominique Meyer), a semifinalist in the Paris Opera Competition & was received a 2021 Bayreuth Scholarship by the International Richard Wagner Association. Melissa was the winner of the fifth prize & the extraordinary prize “Mercedes Viñas” at the 57th International Tenor Viñas Competition at the Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, a District Winner of the 2020 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the recipient of the second prize in both the “Lied & Oratorio” and “Opera” categories of the The American Prize Competition. Further accolades include the “Young Talent Award” at the Immling Festival’s International Singing Competition, first prize in the Friends of Eastman Opera Vocal Competition & was the recipient of a 2015-2016 Fulbright Grant.
Prior to her Fest engagement in Saarbrücken, Melissa appeared in various concerts & projects throughout Europe. She was a featured soloist in Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9” at the 2017 St. Gellert Festival in Hungary. In 2019, Melissa sang Roßweiße in a concert version of Wagner’s “Die Walküre”, conducted by Maestro Domonkos Héja, at the Staatstheater Augsburg in Germany.
She also performed as a Lehrbuben in “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg”, conducted by Christian Thielemann & directed by Jens-Daniel Herzog, at the 2019 Salzburg Easter Festival. In the Summer of 2020, Melissa was scheduled to make her role debut as Suzuki in Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” at Opera Saratoga (USA) & was selected to be a Britten-Pears Young Artist in the course with Anne-Sofie von Otter & Malcolm Martineau at the Aldeburgh Festival (UK) - both engagements were cancelled due to COVID-19.
A passionate oratorio & concert performer, Melissa has been heard as a soloist in Bach's "St. Matthew Passion", Vivaldi’s “Magnificat", Haydn’s “Scena di Berenice” & “Paukenmesse", Handel’s “Messiah”, Mozart’s "Coronation Mass", “Requiem" & "Mass in C Major ‘Piccolomini’”, Beethoven’s "Symphony No. 9”, Rossini’s "Petite messe solennelle” & Mahler’s "Symphony No. 2" & "Symphony No. 3” in Austria, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands & the United States.
Melissa graduated with distinction from the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg (Austria) with a master’s degree in Lied & Oratorio performance & holds a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York (USA). She completed additional training & residencies with the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center (USA), Exzellenz Labor Gesang with Hedwig Fassbender & René Massis (Germany), Eppaner Liedsommer with KS Brigitte Fassbaender (South Tyrol), the Canto Vocal Program (online) with Lucy Arner, Liora Maurer & Sharon Mohar & with Opera Saratoga in an online version of their 2020 Young Artist program.
In addition to singing, Melissa is the founder of her own small business. Melissa Zgouridi Studios is a creative studio with a focus on photography & web design services for musicians & artists.
Updated: July 2022