Mexican-American mezzo-soprano Christina Obledo-Esser has been noted for her “captivating performances,” and “as a talented voice capable of transporting listeners to new heights” (The Desert Sun).

Recent performances include Marshall Opera’s inaugural concert at the Cell Theater where she premiered the aria “Apocalypse Song” by Alice Shields, with New Jersey Lyric Opera as Maddalena in Rigoletto and Flora in La Traviata, the role of Sesto in Clemenza di Tito with the NY Opera Forum, and most recently as Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte with New York Opera Workshop. In August, she will be performing the role of Siebel in Faust by Gounod with Village Opera.

Other role highlights include Giovanna Seymour in Anna Bolena with Dell’arte Opera (canceled due to COVID), Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Village Opera, Hermia in Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Nights Dream with the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, the title role in a world premiere workshop reading of Juana by Carla Lucero and Mrs. Krawcyck in Janice Hamer’s Lost Childhood with Opera UCLA, and the role of Dardano in a new production of Amadigi di Gaula under the baton of GRAMMY® award winning conductor Stephen Stubbs with Opera UCLA.

In 2020, Ms. Esser was selected as one of nine finalists (both instrumental and vocal) to compete in the prestigious Hennings-Fischer Burbank Philharmonic Young Artist Competition. She was also one of the winners of the Mimi Alpert Feldman Scholarship competition. She has also been a featured young artist with the Palm Springs Opera Guild, and in May 2020, was selected to be a guest teaching artist in their California education outreach tour “Opera in the Schools” (Canceled due to Covid-19).

A versatile artist, Ms. Esser also excels in standard concert works and recitals. She has performed as the soprano soloist in Schubert’s “Mass in G” with the Santa Ynez Master Chorale and Orchestra, the mezzo-soprano soloist in excerpts from Handel’s Messiah with the Idyllwild Master Chorale and Orchestra, and as the mezzo-soprano soloist for Bernstein’s Songfest with Opera UCLA.

In 2018, 2019, and 2020, Ms. Esser attended the International Vocal Academy in Payerbach, Austria, where she studied with world-renowned baritone Vladimir Chernov and bel canto expert Olga Toporkova.

Christina received a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCSB, where she graduated magna cum laude, and a Master’s of Music in Vocal Arts degree from the University of California Los Angeles, studying under Vladimir Chernov, Peter Kazaras, and James Darrah. At UCLA, she was the recipient of a Departmental Music Scholarship and Graduate Fellowship Award. Currently, Christina Studies part-time at the Herbert Berghof Acting Studio in New York.

As a freelance digital artist and poet, Ms. Esser also excels in the visual and linguistic aspects of music and has recently found a niche in creating multimedia concerts, incorporating animation and poetry alongside the music being performed. She has also been involved in both creating and/or running supertitles for new operatic works such as Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Garden of Finzi with New York City Opera, and Zaid Jabri’s Southern Crossings, a new opera sponsored by Barnard College.

Christina currently resides in Jersey City, New Jersey, with her two cats Vivaldi and Misti.