Meghan DeWald
SOPRANO
In voice, action, appearance, and more, she was outstanding.
"The lion’s share of the opera falls on the shoulders of the leading soprano role, Christine Storch. The part is astonishingly difficult. Almost continuously she must deliver a huge amount of text at a breakneck speed, with few moments of slowly sustained singing. Demanding half-spoken, half-sung “patter” to use of the uppermost flights of the soprano range in rafter-rattling fortissimo passages, it’s by no means a role for the faint of heart. Only the most highly skilled of singing actresses can hope to make a success of the part, and last night Meghan DeWald did exactly that. In voice, action, appearance and more she was outstanding. This remarkably gifted woman gave a performance encompassing the use of a magnificent voice and charming, comedic acting skills that aren’t likely to be forgotten anytime soon by those on hand last night to see and hear her."
Christine, Intermezzo | Pittsburgh in the Round
At a glance.
Meghan DeWald, soprano, has been praised for "dazzl[ing] the eye and pour[ing] out glorious tone quite thrillingly." Having performed across the country and internationally, she is based in the Pittsburgh area, where she is a favorite of companies including Pittsburgh Opera, with whom she most recently sang Iris (Semele) and Barbarina (Le nozze di Figaro), and Pittsburgh Festival Opera, with whom she has starred as Christine (Intermezzo) and the title role in Die Liebe de Danae. Just outside of Pittsburgh, she has also recently enjoyed performing Marguerite (Faust) with Opera Lancaster and Contessa (Le nozze di Figaro) with Delaware Valley Opera. Active in concert repertoire, her favorite performances include the Britten War Requiem, Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras no. 5, Israelite Woman in Handel’s Samson, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Bach’s Magnificat and Handel’s Ode to St. Cecelia. She has been a soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, North Carolina Master Chorale, Butler County Symphony Orchestra, Princeton Pro Musica, Chatham Baroque, Bloomington Chamber Singers, and Resonance Works.
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Extremely passionate about new music, DeWald has enjoyed collaborations with composers Lori Laitman, Unsuk Chin, Andrea Clearfield, Gabriela Ortiz, David Ward-Steinman, and Matthew Peterson. She enjoys ensemble singing, most notably performing contemporary works with the Grammy award-winning professional choral ensemble The Crossing for their Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center debuts. She currently sings as a member of the Pittsburgh Camerata, the region’s premiere professional choral ensemble. Internationally, her recent highlights include singing at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, where she performed in Luciano Berio’s Coro under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle as a member of the prestigious Lucerne Festival Academy. As part of the Lucerne Festival, she was also honored to perform Unsuk Chin’s snagS&Snarls, a piece for solo soprano and ensemble.
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DeWald currently serves as Voice Area Coordinator as an Adjunct Professor of Voice for the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University and enjoys a rich career in teaching and mentorship in addition to her performance career.