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BIOGRAPHY |
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Mezzo-soprano Mary Beth Nelson is praised for singing with “virtuosic abandon...joyous flair and assured beauty of tone” (Opera Today) at The Glimmerglass Festival, where she sang the role of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Derrick Wang’s comedic opera Scalia/Ginsburg. Following her success as the operatic Supreme Court Justice, she was invited to Washington D.C. to perform in the winter Judicial Congressional Dialogue, as well as the Bipartisan Chiefs of Staff Initiative, where she sang for members of the Senate, House Legislation and their staff, and both the Supreme Court and Federal Court judiciary.
This season Ms. Nelson made two Lincoln Center debuts: the first with Juilliard Opera in Luigi Rossi’s 1647 opera L’Orfeo, and the second, her Alice Tully Hall debut as the alto soloist in the Bach B Minor Mass with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Juilliard415 and Maestro Richard Egarr. In late winter, Ms. Nelson joined Opera Delaware and Baltimore Concert Opera as Rosina in a co-production of Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia. Recently, Ms. Nelson was the soloist for the world premiere of Paul Frehner’s Sometimes the Devil Plays Fate with the New Juilliard Ensemble and Maestro Joel Sachs at Alice Tully Hall, followed by her first appearance in the Messiah Festival of the Arts in Lindsborg, Kansas as the alto soloist for their annual J.S. Bach St. Matthew Passion and Handel’s Messiah. Ms. Nelson is a finalist and encouragement award winner in the Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition (2021), a prize winner and audience choice favorite in the Rochester International Vocal Competition (2020), an encouragement award winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (2020, 2014), 1st Place winner and people's choice award in the 16th Annual International Crescendo Music Awards, a finalist and top audience choice award winner in the 9th Annual Lois Alba Aria Competition, a recipient of a Jensen Foundation honorarium (2020), an international semifinalist in the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition (2019), and a Career Bridges grant winner in New York City. Ms. Nelson trained as a young artist at The Glimmerglass Festival, Florida Grand Opera Studio, and Tri-Cities Opera. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Oklahoma City University, and currently she is working towards her Master of Music degree in Vocal Arts at The Juilliard School, where she studies voice with William Burden and Laura Brooks Rice. She is a native of Orange County, California. |
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Photo credit: Abigel Kralik
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Updated April 2022
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UPCOMING |
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ACCLAIM |
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Mary Beth Nelson is the beautiful and feisty but unsophisticated maiden determined to escape the bounds of marriage to the ridiculous but powerful Doctor Bartolo. Nelson has an exceptionally vibrant and versatile voice displaying a lovely quality of tone musically as well as expressively.”
- OK Arts Scene and Hurd
Mary Beth Nelson performed our favorite Rossini aria--"Una voce poco fa"--demonstrating a personality as pleasing as her voice.
- Meche Kroop, Voce di Meche 5/15/19
Mary Beth Nelson was Cinderella, the serious character around whom the comedy revolves. She sang with considerable technical expertise that included a well modulated trill and a panoply of vocal colors. She threw her inhibitions to the wind late in her final aria, "Nacqui all'affanno" ("I was born into worry and weeping"), and let the audience hear the extent of her wide range. It will be interesting to see where her career goes from here."
- Broadway World
...Mary Beth Nelson was picture perfect as Ginsburg, and she sang with virtuosic abandon. Wang has given his mezzo some extremely challenging florid singing all over the range and Ms. Nelson tossed it off with joyous flair and assured beauty of tone. In more reflective moments Mary Beth displayed a lovely range of vocal coloring that ranged from teasing to touching. Too, she was occasionally asked to cross over into a pop-blues delivery that she managed with such conviction and acumen, she prompted raucous shouts of approval from the house."
- Opera Today
Mezzo Mary Beth Nelson... was a strong Alisa, with a darkly colored voice that contrasted sharply with that of Christy’s."
- Palm Beach Arts Paper
As Alisa, Mary Beth Nelson sang with an ample voice and dark foreboding as she responded to Lucia’s story of the phantom in the fountain."
- South Florida Classical Review
...A thoughtful performance by mezzo-soprano Mary Beth Nelson..."
- Schmopera
Mary Beth Nelson as Concepción was marvelous, her beautiful voice taking on dark colors not heard in her lighter Rossini repertoire. She sang upside down, sideways and every which way, with ease and drama."
- Broom County Arts Council
Mary Beth Nelson’s Hansel was that of an awkward teen boy whose mission was to protect his sister despite his own fear. Her ability to transform herself physically into the male form was quite impressive, and her vocal ability was assured and lovely."
- Broom County Arts Council
Mary Beth Nelson did a remarkable job of playing Betty Parris, as she was an extremely convincing mad/sick/possessed woman. She also did an excellent job of lying limp like a rag doll when she was sick, which impressed me."
- The Cooperstown Crier
Mary Beth Nelson made surreal transitions from the mellow-voiced Beggar Woman asking for alms to the coarse streetwalker — just a flash, and then gone."
- Broom County Arts Council
Mary Beth Nelson gave a stunning performance as Dinah, a wife who entered her marriage with such hope, only to find emptiness. In “In the Garden,” she really laid it all out there, all the emotions, only feet from the audience. She took some risks, but they worked out beautifully. Oh, and did I mention that her voice is an instrument of great beauty?"
- Broom County Arts Council
"Mary Beth Nelson, as Rosina, was everything that was charming. “Una voce poco fa” is sung by half the female singers in the world (mezzos in E, sopranos in F), but she really made the aria her own."
- Broome County Arts Council
"As Isabella, Mary Beth Nelson was flirtatious and charming, handling her coloratura with grace. . . Act II was quite funny, particularly the work with the rolling screens as Isabella flirted with all three of the men in her life. "
- Broom County Arts Council