Vanessa Naghdi is a young Persian-American soprano originally from the Washington, D.C. area. Ms. Naghdi specializes in operatic, concert, song, and musical theater repertoire. This season, Ms. Naghdi makes her international debut as Cleopatra with Opéra Queens. She also covers Arsinoë in the world premiere of Cleopatra Built with the company. Last season, Ms. Naghdi covered the role of Marie in La fille du régiment with St. Petersburg Opera Company. She also sang in the Bella Voce Gala, Broadway Cabaret, for Opera at The Dalí Museum, and the St. Petersburg Opera Guild. Ms. Naghdi also performed with Mixtape Recital Series this past season. Past seasons saw her perform the role of Flora in La Traviata with MassOpera and create the role of Linda in the premiere of Reap What You Soul with Promenade Opera Project. She also sang in two virtual POP-Up concerts, Letter Songs and A Celebration of Spanish and Latin American Cultures with the company. Ms. Naghdi was also a Resident Artist with Sparrow Live for their inaugural group of performers. She broadcast three concerts on their online platform: Leading Ladies, Suleika’s Song: Music from and inspired by Persia, and Excerpts from La fille du régiment. Ms. Naghdi was also the Soprano Soloist in Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Newburyport Choral Society. She also performed operatic favorites for Sunday Funday with River City Opera and love songs and duets in Persian, English, and Italian for Love Travels the World with Bel Cantanti Opera. Ms. Naghdi sang in the premiere of The Ritual of Breath is the Rite to Resist, a co-commission by Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College and Stanford Live at Stanford University. She competed as a finalist in Opera Connecticut’s American Opera Idol Competition, which she stepped into with less than 12 hours’ notice. She also stepped in for her signature role of Nannetta in Falstaff with Social Distance Opera. Upcoming engagements include singing Exsultate, jubilate with Salem Philharmonic Orchestra, performing with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, and collaborating on a curated program entitled My Lifelong Love of Song.

Ms. Naghdi was recently an Artist in Residence with Opera Colorado. While in Denver, she reprised her role of Nannetta in Falstaff under the baton of Maestro Ari Pelto. She created the role of Mrs. Soep and covered Ina Soep in the world premiere of the opera Steal a Pencil for Me, with music by Gerald Cohen and libretto by Deborah Brevoort. Ms. Naghdi also performed the roles of Adina in The Elixir of Love and Clorinda in Cinderella (touring productions) and covered the role of Musetta in La bohème with the company. Recently, Ms. Naghdi returned to Arizona Opera and performed the roles of Pamina and 1st Lady in The Mini-Magic Flute (touring production). She also debuted the role of Tormentilla in a concert version of The Poisoned Kiss (Vaughan Williams) with Passion Project: Opera! Canceled engagements due to Covid-19 include performing as the Soprano Soloist in excerpts from Mozart’s Requiem, and performing The Foreign Princess in Rusalka with Promenade Opera Project as well as in POP’s Annual Gala.

Past seasons have seen Ms. Naghdi in the title role of Rusalka: The Littlest Mermaid (touring) with Arizona Opera. She made her debut as Amy March in Little Women with Nightingale Opera Theatre. Ms. Naghdi created the title role in the world premiere of the chamber opera Mignon by William Clay with Arizona Chamber Opera. Also with Arizona Opera, she performed a concert version of Brundibár as Sparrow and Baker. An interpreter of new works, Ms. Naghdi world-premiered indigenous micro-operas and art songs with Arizona Opera and the Grand Canyon Music Festival. She has also portrayed Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica and Solo Angel in Die Jungfrau von Orléans with the Mittelsächsisches Theater and Philharmonic, conducted by Maestro Jan Horstmann in Freiberg, Germany. Ms. Naghdi has also performed the title character in Amelia al ballo and Belinda in Dido and Aeneas, among others.

An avid musical theater performer, Ms. Naghdi performed the role of Liat with Annapolis Opera in their production of South Pacific. She debuted in creating the role of Lady Helen in the premiere of the musical Spellbound! with Southwest Shakespeare Company. Ms. Naghdi also created the role of Diane Slawyer in the premiere of the new musical Endangered! at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Additionally, she has portrayed Christine Daaé in scenes from The Phantom of the Opera at galas with both Arizona Opera and the Pocono Mountains Music Festival. As an experienced concert artist, Ms. Naghdi was the Soprano Soloist in excerpts from Messiah as well as the Soprano Soloist in Rutter's Magnificat with the Valley Presbyterian Church Concert Series. She performed as a soloist with the Washington Women’s Chorus Concert Series at the Strathmore Music Center. Additionally, Ms. Naghdi has been the Soprano Soloist in Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, for Bach cantata Der Herr denket an uns, BWV 196, and with the Mittelsächsisches Theater and Philharmonic for their Bergstadtfest Concert in Freiberg, Germany. She has been presented in recitals with themes of Persian culture, the artist’s life, and the exploration of language.

Ms. Naghdi has received the Opportunity Fund from the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture and the City of Boston. She has been awarded by the Dorothy Lincoln Smith Voice Competition, The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston, and won Second Place in The American Prize in Vocal Performance (Opera, University Division). Ms. Naghdi holds a Master of Music in Opera Performance from Arizona State University and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University. She enjoys traveling, dancing with Aftab Dance Group, and spending time with her husband.