Acclaimed by the New York Times as “Radiant”, Vanessa Isiguen begins the 2021-2022 season with a return to the title role of Madama Butterfly with Eugene Opera and will make her New Orleans Opera debut in the spring as Mimì in La Bohème  under the baton of Maestro Joseph Colaneri.  She looks forward to creating the role of Nila in the world premiere of Tres Minutos  by composer Nicolas Lell Benavides in Seattle and San Francisco with Music of Remembrance.  She previously made her Florida Grand Opera debut as Cio-Cio-san garnering praise from Palm Beach Arts, “Isiguen’s Butterfly was moving and beautifully sung… she has a big fresh voice with plenty of stamina for an opera that requires her almost constant presence, and serious acting chops that made her lovable, believable, and tragic on the stage…the performance was a triumph, and the audience loved her.” Vanessa was subsequently featured as a soloist at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, UK singing the famous aria ‘Un bel dÌ, vedremo’, with Maestro Nicola Luisotti for the Insights Program Concert. Other notable engagements include the starring soprano role of Roberta Alden in An American Tragedy by Tobias Picker and librettist Gene Scheer with Glimmerglass Opera.  She was thrilled to be featured by The New York Times in a video clip depicting her singing at the beginning of the eerily famous drowning scene. New York Arts wrote, “Vanessa Isiguen, Roberta, was completely convincing as the tragic heroine both vocally and dramatically”, and Classical Voice America described Vanessa as, “A strong, well rounded soprano who sang the fiendishly high and difficult role easily.”  She also sang the role of Spirit at the Metropolitan Opera workshop of The Sorrows of Frederick by Scott Wheeler, conducted by Steven Osgood, and the New York City premiere of the Spanish opera Il Postino by Daniel Catàn as Beatrice Russo.  After relocating from New York City to Portland, Oregon, Vanessa made her debut with the Oregon Symphony as a featured soloist under the baton of Maestro Carlos Kalmar, and her Portland Opera debut as Mimì in La Bohème with Maestro George Manahan to rave reviews.  Opera News boasts, “Vanessa Isiguen brought to Mimì good looks, a lovely soprano, and loads of personality… ‘Si, mi chiamano Mimì’ had variety and nuance from spinto bloom to light chatter.” Vanessa was scheduled to return to Portland Opera in the 2020 season as Nedda in Pagliacci and after COVID-19 cancellations, she performed the aria ‘Dis-moi que je suis belle’ from Massenet’s Thais in the Portland Opera Virtual Benefit Concert in October of 2020.  Vanessa is very proud of her multicultural Filipino, Cuban and Russian heritage, and curated a live-stream virtual recital featuring composers who reflect her ancestry, such as Fernando Obradors and Sergei Rachmaninov.  This was presented by Portland Opera with pianist Nicholas Fox in the winter of 2020.  She was invited to perform this same program at The Seasons Performance Hall in Yakima, WA including her husband, former Metropolitan Opera tenor Anthony Kalil, and Seattle Opera pianist, David McDade.  Vanessa was also a featured soloist in the winter of 2020 with Eugene Opera for a New Year’s Eve Celebration Virtual Concert.  Other concert engagements include her debut with Chamber Music Northwest in 2019 as the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Notturni for Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Baritone and Three Basset Horns. She was a returning soloist for the Portland Opera Gala concerts with orchestra conducted by Maestro George Manahan singing selections from Pagliacci, by Leoncavallo, Puccini’s  La Rondine and Madama Butterfly and La Wally by Alfredo Catalani.  Vanessa was also a panelist for the N.A.T.S. 2020 Winter conference in which she presented a session with her dear friend, composer Damien Geter entitled, ‘Maintaining your Artistry amid COVID-19. Other roles include Massenet’s Manon, Adina in L’elisir D’amore, Violetta in La Traviata, Liù  in Turandot, Magda in La Rondine, Nedda in I Pagliacci, Micaëla and Frasquita in Carmen, Rusalka by Antonín Dvořák, La Contessa and Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. Vanessa has performed with companies such as The Metropolitan Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Portland Opera, Sarasota Opera, Opera Tampa, Vashon Opera, Opera Idaho, and Eugene Opera. She has won top prizes from Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, The Gerda Lissner Foundation NYC, Connecticut Opera Guild, Jenny Lind Competition, and the Bel Canto Competition. Vanessa holds a Bachelor of Music from UNC Chapel Hill, a Master of Music from Boston Conservatory, and a Professional Studies in Opera Diploma from Mannes College of Music - The New School in New York City where she studied with the revered soprano Ruth Falcon.