Hailed for her “great sense of line and legato,” New York-based soprano Melissa McCann is a rising star who has studied under the tutelage of Deborah Voigt. Highlights for McCann’s 2019-2020 season include her Carnegie Hall debut under the baton of Kristof Van Grysperre, and a return to Canada for “The Music of Hungary” presented by Kin Experience. In the 2018-2019 season, she was praised by Opera Canada for the role of Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos as “particularly charming.” She has received critical acclaim from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh in the Round for the roles of Xanthe in Strauss’s Die liebe der Danae and as Fosca in Scandals with Pittsburgh Festival Opera. A dedicated collaborator, she pursues working with young composers, often premiering her colleagues’ compositions. Past appearances include Princess in The Glove with Highlands Opera Studio and Polissena in Handel’s Radamisto with Accademia Europa dell’Opera. In 2014, McCann sang the American National Anthem for President Barack Obama at the University of California, Irvine 50th Anniversary Celebration. Other highlights include Musetta in La Bohème with Opera San José, Granados’ La maja y el Ruiseñor with the UCI Orchestra, Lucy in Three Penny Opera with Pacific Opera Theatre, Handel’s Messiah with the Solano Chamber Society Orchestra as the soprano soloist, Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with San Francisco Youth Chamber Orchestra, and as the soprano soloist in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the UCI orchestra.