Creamy tone, seamless legato, and elegant phrasing.
"The evening’s finest performance was given by soprano Meghan Dewald as the Countess. A woman of surpassing beauty and elegant carriage, Dewald offered a creamy tone, seamless legato, eloquent phrasing and unaffected yet potent acting."
Contessa, Le nozze di Figaro | Chestnut Hill Local
About Meghan
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 several prominent local companies. Most recently, she sang Barbarina in Pittsburgh Opera’s Le nozze di Figaro in 2022 and Iris in their acclaimed production of Semele in 2021. She earned accolades for her performance of Danae in Die Liebe der Danae by Richard Strauss with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, where she “dazzled the eye and poured out glorious tone quite thrillingly.” Prior to that performance, she sang Christine in Intermezzo by Richard Strauss, also with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, where she garnered acclaim: “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.”
DeWald's other 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. DeWald performed the role Contessa Almaviva in Delaware Valley Opera Company’s production of Le nozze di Figaro, where she was praised for her “surpassing beauty and elegant carriage… creamy tone, seamless legato, eloquent phrasing and unaffected yet potent acting” (Chestnut Hill Local). Other favorite roles include Marguerite in Faust, Fiordiligi in Cosí fan tutte, Magda in La Rondine, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, Margarita Xirgu in Ainadamar, and Juliette in Roméo et Juliette.
Favorite concert 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 enjoyed performances as a soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, North Carolina Master Chorale, Butler County Symphony Orchestra, Princeton Pro Musica, Pittsburgh Camerata and Chatham Baroque, Bloomington Chamber Singers, and Resonance Works. A champion of new music, she 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.
She has been the recipient of several awards including Second Place Regional Finalist (Upper Midwest Region) and is a three-time District Winner (Florida and Wisconsin) in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. DeWald earned her Doctor of Music in Vocal Performance and Literature at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where she also earned her Master of Music degree. She graduated magna cum laude from the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. She currently serves as Voice Area Coordinator as an Adjunct Professor of Voice for the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University. In addition to singing, she loves practicing and teaching yoga as a 200-hr certified instructor. She lives in Pittsburgh, PA with her husband and their two sons.