Rebecca Nelsen – lyric coloratura soprano

The young American soprano Rebecca Nelsen started off her 2009-10 season with her Italian debut as Violetta under the baton of Maestro Myun-Whun Chung in the revival of Robert Carsen’s production of “La Traviata” at Teatro la Fenice in Venice, and in the same role under the baton of Maestro Fabio Luisi at the Semperoper Dresden. This will be followed by further guest engagements at the Semperoper Dresden: as Susanna (“Le nozze di Figaro”), and as Blondchen (“Die Entführung aus dem Serail”). She is also returning to the Volksoper Wien for the revival of the operetta “Der Vetter aus Dingsda” by Eduard Künneke and for performances of Gretel in “Hänsel und Gretel”. Additional projects in that season include the recording of Mary in George Antheil’s opera “The Brothers” with the Bochum Symphony Orchestra for the CPO label.

In the 2008-09 season she premiered the role of Julia de Weert in “Der Vetter aus Dingsda” in the new production by Olivier Tambosi at the Volksoper Wien, and at the Semperoper Dresden she sang Adele in “Die Fledermaus” as well as Sophie in “Der Rosenkavalier” under the baton of Fabio Luisi. Between 2007 and 2009 she was a member of the Staatstheater Braunschweig ensemble, where her roles included Gilda, Musetta, Sophie, Blondchen, Komtesse Stasi (”Die Csárdásfürstin”) and Ippolito in the German premiere of Johann Simon Mayr’s “Fedra”, which was commercially recorded and released on Oehms Classics in 2009.

“The discovery of the evening, [...] was the young soprano Rebecca Nelsen.  A talented actress who also vocally leaves no wish unfulfilled.” With her operatic debut in 2004 in John Casken’s “God’s Liar”, Rebecca Nelsen took Vienna by storm, and this initial success lead to more engagements. In 2005 Rebecca Nelsen portrayed Eurydike in Christoph Cech’s new orchestration of the “Orfeo” libretto by Monteverdi (a production of the Neuen Oper Wien), she sang Flora in “The Knot Garden” by Sir Micheal Tippett at the Klangbogen Festival Wien and made her debut as Pamina in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” on a tour through Japan. The year 2006 again began for her with the role of Pamina, but this time in the world premiere of “Zauberflöte 06″, an opera by Austrian composer Thomas Pernes, performed in Vienna and at the National Theatre Bratislava. The year continued with performances in “Don Juan kommt aus dem Krieg” by Erik Højsgaard at the Theater an der Wien, “Radek” by Richard Dünser with the Bregenz Festival and in a production of Mozart’s “Così fan tutte” at the Schlosstheater Schönbrunn in Vienna.

Rebecca Nelsen studied at the Texas Tech University with Karl Dent und Kathy McNeil, and with the help of a Fulbright Scholarship she was able to continue her studies in Vienna with Prof. Sebastian Vittucci at the University for Music and the Performing Arts. With the Texas Tech Opera she sang lead roles in “Gianni Schicchi”, “The Merry Wives of Windsor”, “The Pirates of Penzance”, “Iolanthe” and already took on the role of Violetta in Verdi’s “La Traviata”. She won several national and international competitions, including third prize at the International Ferruccio Tagliavini Competition and first prize at the International Nico Dostal Competition.