The Salt Lake Tribune praises Melinda Whittington for her  “performances of emotional resonance along with their powerhouse vocals.” This season she made a role debut in her home state as Nedda in Pagliacci with North Carolina Opera and joined the Metropolitan Opera roster for its productions of Macbeth and Glass’ Akhnaten. She was also scheduled to make her debut with Opera Naples as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, but the performance was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Future engagements include her return to Opera Carolina to sing Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, where she sang her first performances of Tatyana in Eugene Onegin last season. She also sang Juliette in Roméo et Juliette with Pensacola Opera.    Among the soprano’s other recent performances are debuts with Arizona Opera as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and a return for the title role of Rusalka, Utah Opera for Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Ash Lawn Opera as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, and North Carolina Opera as Ada in Higdon’s Cold Mountain. She has sung Contessa in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Carolina, Opera Grand Rapids, and Kentucky Opera; the title role of Arabella with Pittsburgh Festival Opera; Juliette in Roméo et Juliette with Opera Birmingham; Micaëla in Carmen with Greensboro Opera; Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Green Mountain Opera; and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi and Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte previously with Opera Carolina. The soprano also joined the roster of the Lyric Opera of Chicago for its recent production of Eugene Onegin. She sang Micaëla in Carmen with Wolf Trap Opera and Marie Antoinette in Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles, and subsequently returned to the company for a birthday concert celebration honoring the composer. Also while a Filene Young Artist at Wolf Trap, she sang a recital at Phillips Collection, pairing art songs and popular songs with art from the museum.  Ms. Whittington is a former Resident Artist of the Academy of Vocal Arts, at which she sang Marguerite in Faust and Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte. She joined Opera Philadelphia for an exciting evening of new opera with Opera Philadelphia and their composers in residence, Lembit Beecher and Missy Mazzoli. On the concert stage, she has sung Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Philadelphia Sinfonia, Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Back Bay Chorale, and excerpts of Juliette in Roméo et Juliette with the Charlotte Symphony. She was the 2015 first place winner of the Opera Birmingham competition, 2016 third place winner in Fort Worth Opera’s McCammon Voice Competition, a 2013 semi-finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, winner of the Charlotte Opera Guild Competition, and an encouragement award winner in the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition. She is a former participant in the prestigious Merola Opera Program in association with San Francisco Opera at which she performed scenes as the title role in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena, Barber’s Vanessa, and Bizet’s Le jolie fille de Perth. She holds a Master of Music degree from the University of North Carolina Greensboro and a Bachelor of Music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to pursuing her operatic career, Melinda is a skilled and experienced performer and teacher of contemporary vocal styles, including jazz, musical theater, and pop. When not performing or teaching, Melinda enjoys photography, vintage shopping, yoga, cooking, hiking, and traveling.  She lives with her husband, Dr. Phil Bugaiski, in Charlotte, NC.