Biography
Soprano MEGAN WESTON is recognized for her “remarkable virtuosity and charm” (FINANCIAL TIMES), her “gorgeous lyric soprano” (OPERA MAGAZINE), and as a “strong and persuasive” performer (THE NEW YORK TIMES). She first gained attention as Lisa in La sonnambula with the Caramoor Music Festival and the Orchestra of St. Luke's, and as Lightfoot McClendon in the world premiere production of Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree with San Diego Opera.
In 2021-22, she made her debut with the Joroinen Festival in all Gershwin programs with the Jyväskylä Big Band and the Cantinovum Chamber Choir in Finland. She appeared on Savonlinna AAMU morning show and toured with the Bad Boys of Opera in Fort Meyers and St. Augustine, Florida, and performed concerts with Columbia University and Athena Music Foundation. Just prior to the pandemic, she performed The Swallow and Match Girl in Sergio Cervetti's opera Elegy for a Prince with Distinguished Concerts International Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium, and sang at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall in Chinese New Year Spectacular. She performed Jenny in Stephen Sondheim's Company with Madison Lyric Stage, Frasquita in Carmen with the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice, and premiered Two Masses by Phillipe Treuille with the Long Island Chorale Society.
Her recordings include Anne in the world premiere of Harold Farberman’s Diamond Street at Bard's Fisher Center for Albany Records. Her career, spanning over fifty operatic roles, includes Olympia in Les contes d'Hoffmann and Lapak in The Cunning Little Vixen (Tulsa Opera), Constance Bonacieux in the world premiere of Mitchell Bach's Les trois mousquetaires (Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice), Yum-Yum in The Mikado (Festival Ópera en la Calle, Mexico), Tuptim in The King and I (Charlottesville Opera), Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Center City Opera Philadelphia), Amore in L'incoronazione di Poppea and Despina in Così fan tutte (Utah Opera), Masha in Ben Moore's Enemies, A Love Story and Demiurge in James Dashow's experimental opera Archimedes with the Center for Contemporary Opera, Nedda in Pagliacci (Madison Lyric Stage) and Gilda in Rigoletto (Bard Conductors Institute). She appeared with Lyric Opera San Diego in nine leading roles, including Norina in Don Pasquale, Cunegonde in Candide, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Sylva in Emmerich Kálmán's The Gypsy Princess (Die Csárdásfürstin), and Blondchen in The Abduction from the Seraglio.
On the concert stage, MEGAN WESTON made her debut at Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium in Mozart’s Coronation Mass with New England Symphonic Ensemble and MidAmerica Productions. She has performed Copland's Poems of Emily Dickinson and Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with San Diego Chamber Orchestra and the Glens Falls Symphony, Verdi's Requiem with Bard Conductors Institute and Long Island Choral Society, Carmina Burana with the San Diego Symphony, Messiah with Long Island Choral Society and Orchestra Nova, Brahms' Requiem with Seattle's Cascadian Chorale, Haydn's The Creation with Long Island Choral Society, Schubert's Mirjam's Siegesgesang with ProMusica Arizona, and toured the Dordogne region of France in programs with the St. Amand de Vergt Festival and Entrée des Artistes Festival ("grande qualite" - SUD-OEST). She has appeared in numerous gala concerts with such companies as Opera Orlando, New York City Opera, and Sing for Hope. A talented cross-over artist and called "the best ever Christmas pops soloist" (CAPE COD TIMES), MEGAN WESTON has appeared in multiple seasons of summer and Christmas pops concerts with the Cape Symphony, New Haven Symphony, Orchestra Nova, and the San Diego Chamber Orchestra. She performed song recitals with the Metropolitan Opera Guild at Lincoln Center, Japan's NHK Television, Chamber Music Sedona, and Bodhi Tree Concerts. She premiered nine new works by Nico Muhly, Arthur Kopit, Laura Kaminsky and others with actors Olympia Dukakis and B.D. Wong in November 21, 1963: The Day Before at Symphony Space.
MEGAN WESTON began her career in the resident artist programs of Utah Opera, San Diego Opera, and the Aspen Opera Theater Center. She is the recipient of major awards from such esteemed organizations as the Gerda Lissner International Competition, the Lee Schaenen Foundation Competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Western Regional Auditions, the Pavarotti International Competition, Leni Fe Bland Foundation Awards, Joyce Dutka Arts Competition, NATS-LA Competition, and the Loren L. Zachary National Competition. A member of BMI and SAG/AFTRA, her compositions, voice and acting have been featured in television shows, commercials, and films, including Perry Mason and The Queen's Gambit. A frequent collaborator with contemporary composers, she has premiered works by Carlisle Floyd, Nico Muhly, Myron Fink, Harold Farberman, Arthur Kopit, Ben Moore, and many more.
MEGAN WESTON is the co-founder and director of Athena Music Foundation, a non-profit organization that introduces new and diverse audiences to opera, classical music and inventive jazz and Broadway live music programs. Athena produces numerous concerts each year and showcases New York City's great artistic talent in intimate and imaginative venues. In 2021-22, Athena presented The Music of James Bond at Swing 46, and their touring troupe, The Athenians, performed gala concerts with the Untermyer Gardens Concert Series, Vital Voices - Fortune's Most Powerful Women and the US Department of State Women's Mentoring Partnership, the National Arts Club, China Institute, and Kamen Brain Tumor Foundation. Other performances have included concerts for the World Finance United Exchange Summit in Dubai, Consulate General of France in NYC, Ocean City Pops, International Women's Day and WeLink Film Festival at the United Nations, Pocono Mountains Music Festival, Palm Beach Theater Guild, and the Athena Music Foundation Concert Series at both Carnegie Hall and the Kosciuszko Foundation. Their collaborations include concerts with the National Chorale and a production of La traviata with the Berkshire Theatre Group. The Athenians toured China with performances for Tsinghua University in Beijing, and Dom Pedro V Theater in Macau.
MEGAN WESTON is currently an instructor of voice and piano at Teachers College, Columbia University. She has served on juries for the 2021 Premiere Opera Foundation International Competition and NYIOP Auditions, and has taught master classes for the San Diego Chamber Orchestra and La Sierra University. She earned her master's degree from Columbia University and a B.A. and B.M. from Cal State Fullerton.