Blythe Gaissert
Mezzo-Soprano Blythe Gaissert has established herself as a young artist in great demand in the United States for opera, concert and recital engagements. This Texas native has received great praise from critics for her rich sound and
intense, dramatic interpretations of operatic roles. Of her performance of in Transformations with San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, the San Francisco Philistine said: “The cannibalism aria of mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert whetted our appetite with her soft-edged voice.”
Ms. Gaissert has performed Hansel in Hansel and Gretel Tulsa Opera, The Isrealitish Man in a staged version of Handel’s Judas Maccabeus with Los Angeles Opera under the baton of James Conlon, the title role in the Rape of Lucretia with the Aldeburgh Festival in England, Carmen at the Aspen Music Festival under the baton of Julius Rudel and also in a semistaged concert version for Lake George Opera, Mere Marie in Dialogues of the Carmelites (also with Maestro Conlon),Maddelena in Rigoletto under the baton of Julius Rudel, (with the Aspen Opera Theatre Center) as well as with Sarasota Opera, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with Opera Plus! in Coeur DAlene, ID, Rose in Dinner and Delusion with the Cell Theatre/Center for Contemporary Opera, Lady Angela in Patience (Sorg Opera), Suzy in La Rondine with Sarasota Opera, Augusta Tabor in The Ballad of Baby Doe, Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible (Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music). Ms. Gaissert has also performed with the Cincinnati Opera and the Opera Teatro di Lucca. She has participated in many of the countrys major young artist programs such as the Merola Program at San Francisco Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Lake George Opera and Sarasota Opera.
Equally at home on the concert stage, Ms. Gaissert has appeared in a premiere of a new production of Manuel de Falla’s El Amor Brujo with the Asheville Symphony, the American premiere of Gyorgy Ligeti’s Sippal, Dobbal, Nadihegiduvel, as well as the American premiere Louis Andriessen’s Y Despues with the Aspen Music Festival. She has also established herself as a favorite with many American composers leading to an ongoing relationship with the Foundation for Modern Music in Houston Texas, Americana Arts Foundation Productions and the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble. Other concert performances include Alto Soloist in Zemlinsky’s Psalm 83 with James Conlon and the Cincinnati Symphony as well as multiple performances of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
In 2010, Ms. Gaissert was named the 1st prize winner in the National Opera Association’s Artist Awards. She was also a finalist in the Giulio Gari Competition in NYC. In 2009 Ms. Gaissert was selected as one of the winners of the NYC round of the Mezzo TV competition which continued in Szeged, Hungary. In 2008 Ms. Gaissert was a Finalist in the Bel Canto Competition as well as Portland Opera’s Eleanor Lieber Competition. She was also the Recipient of the Mandelker Award for returning Studio Artists in 2008 at Sarasota Opera. In 2006, Ms. Gaissert was recognized as a Finalist in Fort Worth Opera’s Marguerite McCammon Competition, Shreveport Opera’s Singer of the Year Competition with the Gretchen Crow Award, and as a semi-finalist with the Elardo Competition.
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