“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.”
Hailed for her “great sense of line and legato,” soprano Melissa McCann has appeared in opera, concert, and recital performances across the United States, Canada, Italy, and Austria. Recognized for her lyricism, coloratura facility, and musical sensitivity, she has been heard in a wide range of repertoire spanning Mozart, Monteverdi, Handel, Strauss, Puccini, Bach, contemporary opera, and American musical theatre.
McCann is a winner of the Riverside Opera Company Auditions, the NATS-LA Young Artist Auditions, and the Redlands Bowl Young Artist Auditions. She was also named a finalist in the Artist Presentation Society Auditions in St. Louis and the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle’s Frances Walton Competition, as well as a semi-finalist in the Camille Coloratura Awards and the Premiere Opera International Vocal Competition.
Recent operatic appearances include Pertelote in the world premiere of Chanticleer with Dakota Pro Musica, Elena in A Visit to Baba Yaga with Badlands Opera Project, Fortuna in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria with dell’Arte Opera Ensemble, and scenes as Adina in L’elisir d’amore with the Missouri Valley Chamber Orchestra. She has also appeared with Badlands Opera Project as Dancer in Tin Heart, Tinsel Rose and covered Tree in The Winter Giant as part of Fairy Tale Suite.
Other operatic highlights include Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos with Highlands Opera Studio, praised by Opera Canada as “particularly charming,” Xanthe in Die Liebe der Danae with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Musetta in La Bohème with Opera San José, Polissena in Radamisto with Accademia Europa dell’Opera, Despina in Così fan tutte with James Madison University, Mimì in La Bohème with James Madison University, Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice with the University of California, Irvine, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte with Pacific Opera Theatre, and Lucy in The Threepenny Opera with Pacific Opera Theatre. Her scene work includes Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Ännchen in Der Freischütz, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus at Carnegie Hall, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, Cunegonde in Candide, Aspasia in Mitridate, re di Ponto, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Maria in West Side Story, and Lakmé in Lakmé.
On the concert and orchestral stage, McCann has appeared as soprano soloist in Bach’s Kaffeekantate, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri, Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, and other sacred and orchestral works. She has performed with orchestras and ensembles including the McKinney Philharmonic, Missouri Valley Chamber Orchestra, Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Youth Chamber Orchestra, University of California, Irvine Orchestra, Greater North Texas Youth Orchestra, Dakota Pro Musica, the Collegiate Singers of New York City, Solano Chamber Society, and Harrisonburg Opera Theatre.
Career highlights include her Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall 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’s 50th Anniversary Commencement. Her recital and concert appearances include performances at the University of Mary, the University of Jamestown, Winifred Smith Hall at the University of California, Irvine, St. James United Church in Montréal, Riverside Church in New York City, Napa Valley Music Association, Dickinson Legacy Square, All Saints Episcopal Church in Las Vegas, and the Schloßbergbühne Kasematten in Graz, Austria.
McCann’s scholarly and artistic work often intersects with performance. Her 2024 lecture-recital, “Interpreting Strauss: A Scholarly Recital of Orchestral Songs and Opera Scenes for Sopranos,” was presented at the University of Mary and the University of Jamestown and featured Strauss orchestral songs and opera scenes for soprano. The project was supported by the North Dakota Council on the Arts Special Projects FY25 Grant, and McCann was also honored with the University of Mary Faculty Excellence Award. Her research has also included work on vowel-pitch matching, vibrato rate, resonance, and vocal communication.
Dr. McCann holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance, Pedagogy, and Literature from James Madison University, a Postgraduate Artist Diploma from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, a Master of Fine Arts in Vocal Performance from the University of California, Irvine, and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of the Pacific. Her principal teachers include Kevin McMillan, Darryl Taylor, and Deborah Voigt, with coaching from Chris Fecteau, Richard Cordova, and Anthony Manoli. She has also worked in selected masterclasses with Lawrence Brownlee, Roberta Alexander, and Gabriele Lechner.
Dr. McCann currently serves as Assistant Professor and Director of Performance at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, where she teaches voice and directs the Vocal Arts Ensemble.