Melinda Whittington Bugaiski

I am an operatic soprano who regularly performs all over the country, as well as here at home. This season I’ll be performing the role of Violetta in Verdi’s La traviata with Opera Carolina. Other roles with my home company include Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, and Female Soldier in The Falling and the Rising. I’ve had the pleasure of working at the Metropolitan Opera in both mountings of Phelim McDermott’s Grammy-winning production of Philip Glass’ Akhnaten. Other companies I’ve performed with include Chicago Lyric Opera, Utah Opera, Arizona Opera, North Carolina Opera, Kentucky Opera, Opera Grand Rapids, Greensboro Opera, and Pittsburgh Festival Opera. My repertoire ranges from lyric soprano classics to new American opera, including such roles as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, the title roles in Rusalka and Arabella, Mimi in La boheme, Juliette in Romeo et Juliette, Micaëla in Carmen, Marie Antoinette in The Ghosts of Versailles, and Ada in Cold Mountain.

In addition to the degrees above, I was a resident artist with the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, San Francisco Opera, and Wolf Trap Opera. I was a 2013 semi-finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, becoming one of 20 singers from the entire country to perform on the stage of the Met. Additional awards include first place in the Opera Birmingham and Charlotte Opera Guild competitions, third place in the Fort Worth Opera competition, and an encouragement award from the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition.

I am passionate about helping my students find their healthiest, most efficient and most natural sound in any musical style. In addition to being a performer and teacher, I am a wife to Dr. Philip Bugaiski and a mother to two precious little boys, Isaac (4) and Simon (2).