Melissa Plagemann, mezzo-soprano, performs frequently throughout the Pacific Northwest, and has appeared with some of the area's finest ensembles, including the Seattle Symphony, Tacoma Opera, Orchestra Seattle, Seattle Opera Guild, Skagit Opera, the Seattle Choral Company, Kitsap Opera, and NOISE, among others.
Recent opera roles for Ms. Plagemann include Hänsel in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel, Carmen in semi-staged scenes with the Seattle Symphony, Dorabella in Così fan Tutte, Rosina in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Nicklausse in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann. Equally at home on the concert stage, she has performed in several recent productions of Mozart's Requiem, as well as Copland's In the Beginning, and Saint-Saëns' Christmas Oratorio, among others.
Ms. Plagemann has a special interest in music of the Baroque era, and has performed several masterpieces of J.S. Bach, including both Passions, the B Minor Mass, and Magnificat in D, as well as several of his Cantatas. She has also been featured at Seattle's annual Town Hall Bach Marathon in Seattle, singing Bach's Cantata #18 and J.C. Bach's solo cantata, Ach, dass ich Wassers gnug. Other Baroque oratorio repertoire includes Vivaldi's Gloria and Magnificat, and, of course, Handel's Messiah. In Baroque opera, she has worked frequently with acclaimed lutenist Stephen Stubbs, most recenly in the role of Damigella in the Seattle Early Music Guild's acclaimed production of L'incoronazione di Poppea. This spring, she can be seen at the Northwest Puppet Center, singing the roles of Alcina and Melissa in Francesca Caccini's La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall'Isola d'Alcina, the first opera known to be written by a woman.
Having earned a master's degree in piano performance in addition to her experience as a singer, Ms. Plagemann is uniquely qualified as an interpreter of art song and chamber music, and is a frequent recitalist. As a winner of the 2004 Ladies' Musical Club competition and tour, she was sponsored on a recital tour through Washington State, and was recently sponsored in recitals by both LMC and Sherman Clay pianos in Seattle.
Ms. Plagemann is also an enthusiastic and sought-after performer of new music, and has appeared with several ensembles dedicated to performing the works of living composers, including Sonic Lab, 16 visions/Fisher Ensemble, and the Esoterics vocal ensemble. She was a founding member of the Seattle New Music Ensemble, and with them had the opportunity to perform several staples of 20th century repertoire, including Schönberg's Pierrot Lunaire and John Cage's Aria.
Awards for Ms. Plagemann include first prize in the Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society's annual competition. She holds degrees in music from the University of Victoria, Canada, and Indiana University in Bloomington, and currently lives in Seattle, where she is a member of the musicians' collective Northwest Artists. She will spend the summer of 2007 at the prestigious Opera as Theatre Program at the Banff Center in Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Michael Mahoney)