Soprano MEGAN WESTON is recognized for her “remarkable virtuosity and charm” (FINANCIAL TIMES), her “gorgeous lyric soprano” (OPERA), and her “strong and persuasive” singing (THE NEW YORK TIMES). In her 2019-2020 season, she performed The Swallow and Match Girl in Sergio Cervetti's opera Elegy for a Prince with Distinguished Concerts Orchestra conducted by Michael Adelson at Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium, and performed at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall with The Athenians in a program for Chinese New Year. Her many live-streamed performances this season include a recital for Columbia University and a concert with the Ocean City Pops. Her voice can currently be be heard on the Netflix limited series The Queen’s Gambit which premiered in October, 2020. Her 2018-2019 season included performances as Jenny in Stephen Sondheim's Company with Madison Lyric Stage, Frasquita in Carmen with the Phoenicia Festival of the Voice, and recitals at the historic Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara and Kosciuszko Foundation. She performed gala concerts with The Athenians, National Chorale, and the Metamorphosis Chamber Orchestra at the Japan Society, French Consulate, Vital Voices, and National Arts Club in New York City. She sang in Dubai for The United Exchange Summit with The Athenians, and premiered Two Masses by Phillipe Treuille with the Long Island Chorale Society.
In 2017-2018, her performance as Constance Bonacieux in the world premiere of Mitchell Bach's Les trois mousquetaires with the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice was called “superb, dramatic, and a highlight” (WOODSTOCK TIMES). She appeared with the Master Chorale of Saddleback Valley and Community Youth Symphony of Southern California in a program of Bernstein and Gershwin. She appeared at Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall in a program of American and English songs, and travelled the world appearing in programs with the National Trust in Bora Bora, in Boltaña, Spain and Antarctica. MEGAN WESTON toured Macau, Hong Kong and Beijing in performances with The Athenians and conductor Lü Jia, sang Haydn's The Creation and Bach's Mass in B Minor with the Long Island Choral Society, and appeared in gala concerts with Opera Orlando, the Cape Symphony, Palm Beach Theater Guild, and New York City Opera.
MEGAN WESTON gained international attention as Lisa in La sonnambula with the Caramoor Music Festival and the Orchestra of St. Luke's. THE NEW YORK TIMES called her performance “strong” and “persuasive” and OPERA MAGAZINE said she was “a delightful surprise displaying a gorgeous, lyric soprano.” Praised as "Magnificent" by KPBS and "Excellent" by OPERA NEWS, she first came to attention as Lightfoot McClendon in the premiere production of Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree with San Diego Opera. Her recordings include Anne in the world premiere of Harold Farberman’s Diamond Street for Hudson Hall and Albany Records. Her portrayals of Norina in Don Pasquale, Olympia in Les contes d'Hoffmann, Cunegonde in Candide, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Tuptim in The King and I, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Despina in Così fan tutte with Utah Opera, Tulsa Opera, Charlottesville Opera, Center City Opera Philadelphia, New Haven Symphony, and Lyric Opera San Diego have delighted audiences and critics alike.
Highlights of her 2014-2015 season include Nedda in Pagliacci with Madison Lyric Stage and Gilda in Rigoletto with the Bard Conductors Institute Orchestra. In 2013-2014, She performed with Academy Award winning actress Olympia Dukakis premiering nine new works by Nico Muhly and others in November 21, 1963: The Day Before at Symphony Space. She sang Yum-Yum in The Mikado with the Festival Ópera en la Calle, Mexico, and gala concerts with the Cape Symphony, California Center for the Performing Arts Orchestra and Chorus, and Orchestra Nova. She performed songs by Samuel Barber with the Metropolitan Opera Guild at Lincoln Center. A frequent guest artist at Carnegie Hall, MEGAN WESTON made her debut with Mozart’s Coronation Mass with the 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 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 and toured southern France in programs with the St. Amand de Vergt Festival and Entrée des Artistes Festival ("grande qualité" - SUD-OUEST).
MEGAN WESTON began her career in the young 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 Regional Auditions, the Pavarotti International Competition, Leni Fe Bland Foundation Awards, Joyce Dutka Arts Competition, NATS Competition, and the Loren L. Zachary National Competition. A member of BMI and SAG/AFTRA, her compositions and acting have been featured in television shows and films. 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 an instructor of voice and piano at Columbia University, Teachers College and maintains private voice and piano studios in Manhattan, Westchester and Rockland Counties. She has taught master classes for the San Diego Chamber Orchestra, La Sierra University, CA, and Cedarcrest High School, WA. She is the co-founder and director of Athena Music Foundation, a non-profit organization which serves to inspire diverse audiences throughout the world in outstanding performances programmed to increase awareness of the power and beauty of opera and classical music.
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