A little about me

Three-time District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Melanie Spector is a soprano who was born and raised in New York City and a recent graduate of the Resident Artist Program at Detroit Opera. In a cast headlined by Angel Blue and Christine Goerke, she made her Detroit Opera debut in the 2022-23 season as the High Priestess in Verdi's Aida, in which she was praised for her “exceptional ability to nail pitch…coupled with the supreme cleanliness of her sound” (Operawire). Most recently, Melanie sang Musetta in Puccini’s La Bohème with Village Opera under the direction of Felix Jarrar, and she made her full role debut as Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte with The Opera Next Door. This summer, Melanie performs at the Aspen Music Festival where she will be a Renée Fleming Artist Fellow. Her summer includes covering the title role in the world premiere of Christopher Theofanidis' and Melissa Studdard's Siddhartha, She; premiering Samuel Adams’ First Work with the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble; and performing at the annual AOTVA Opera Benefit alongside Guest Artist Isabel Leonard.

Additional role credits include Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte) with Eugene Opera and the Stuttgart Philharmonic; Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) at the Savannah VOICE Festival and Opera Tampa; Bubikopf (Der Kaiser von Atlantis) with Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings; and Chocholka/Mrs Pásek (Cunning Little Vixen) and Soloist (Cage’s Europeras 3 & 4) at Detroit Opera. On the concert stage, she has soloed in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Wayne State Wind Symphony and Choirs, Mozart’s Requiem and “Vorrei spiegarvi, o dio” with the Midland Symphony Orchestra, and Schubert’s “Der Hirt auf dem Felsen” at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival with clarinetist David Shifrin and pianist Gilles Vonsattel. In addition to singing, Melanie has been heard as a regular panelist on the Metropolitan Opera Quiz broadcast over international radio during Saturday matinées, and she works as a Social Media Manager for Lenny’s Studio, handling channels for several of opera’s top stars.