Canadian mezzo Melissa Schiel has established herself as a preeminent stage performer,
recitalist and pedagogue. She has been hailed as a “...velvety mezzo-soprano, who displays bona fide
acting smarts as well.” (Victoria Times Colonist) Ms. Schiel has performed with numerous companies
and orchestras including Opera Ontario, Aspen Opera Theater Center, Tanglewood Music Center, the
Boris Brott Festival and the Mountain View International Festival of Song.
A uniquely versatile musician, Schiel has performed a broad spectrum of repertoire. Her operatic roles
including Dorabella (Così fan tutte) Olga (Eugene Onegin) Oberon (A Midsummer Night’s Dream),
The Fox (The Cunning Little Vixen), Maddelena (Rigoletto), Zita (Gianni Schicchi), Dinah (Trouble in
Tahiti), Dritte Dame (Die Zauberflöte), The Old Lady (Candide), Berta (Il barbière di Siviglia) and Mrs.
Herring (Albert Herring). Always seeking to champion the works of contemporary composers, Ms.
Schiel has premiered several works including the role of Estelle Oglethorpe in Later the Same Evening:
a 2007 opera by John Musto inspired by the work of American Edward Hopper, in collaboration with
the National Gallery of Art. Schiel has also performed numerous oratorio works including Handel’s
Messiah, Bruckner’s Te Deum, Beethoven’s Symphony No.9, and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. Ms.
Schiel has a great passion for early music. Her recent lecture-recital “Good Old Durastanti: Actress,
Singer and Maid of All Work,” was the culmination of her research of famed Handel singer Margherita
Durastante. A frequent recitalist, Ms. Schiel has performed throughout the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
This season, Ms. Schiel will present a series of recitals throughout the Pacific Northwest to commem-
orate the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage in Washington. “No Wine Required—Women and
Song” presents the works of some of the most prominent female art song composers including Cecile
Chaminade, Rebecca Clarke, Alma Mahler, Carrie Jacob Bonds, Pauline Garcia Viardot, and Clara
Schumann.
Ms. Schiel has studied at the University of Toronto and McGill University. Currently, she is a Doctoral
Candidate at the University of Maryland and teaches Solo Vocal Literature, Pedagogy and Applied
Lessons. Studying with Martha Randall, she has also participated in Master Classes with Marilyn
Horne, Phyllis Curtin, Rudolph Jansen and Martin Isepp.
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