Elana Gleason, hailed by the New York Post for "flaunt[ing] pinpoint finesse on high B’s and C’s” and by Opera News for singing with a “particularly beautiful soprano,” is a versatile artist making her mark on the regional opera scene. This past season, her performances included the title character in Manon, Agnes Sorel in Maid of Orleans with New Orleans Opera, Violetta in La Traviata with Mobile Opera, Krystyna Zywulska in the university premiere of Two Remain, and the soprano soloist in Opera Louisiane’s Opening Night gala.
In the previous season, Elana had the pleasure of debuting the role of Joan of Arc in Maid of Orleans, performing Judit in Bluebeard’s Castle, creating the role of Elizabeth in the university premiere of Kevin Puts’ Elizabeth Cree, singing Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, and accompanying Lisette Oropesa as a soloist in her concert “Starry Night”. Other highlights include Marguerite in Faust, Mrs. Nordstrom in A Little Night Music, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Micaela in Carmen, the title role in The Merry Widow, Violetta in La Traviata, Nedda in Pagliacci, and the title role in Tosca. She has made professional appearances with New Orleans Opera, Marigny Opera, the Lake Charles Symphony, the Natchez Festival of Music, Mississippi Opera, Opera Louisiane, The Clayton Piano Festival, La Piccola Opera, dell'Arte Opera Ensemble, Dicapo Opera, the Staten Island Philharmonic, the Allentown Symphony, and the Bard Summerscape Festival. Ms. Gleason is a recent semi-finalist in both the McCammon Vocal Competition and the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition. She will compete for the finals of McCammon in September of 2020. In 2019, she placed second in Mobile Opera’s Madame Rose Palmai-Tenser competition. She was also the first place winner of the Collegiate Scenes Competition at the National Opera Association in both 2019 and 2020. |