Alyssa finished out the 2018-2019 season as a soloist with Mankato Symphony Orchestra in a spring performance of Handel’s Messiah, parts 2 and 3—yes, it’s not just for Christmas! Speaking of Christmas, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio is one of Alyssa’s favorite choral pieces to sing, and in December she had the immense pleasure of singing it with a small chamber choir for the Bach Society of Minnesota in their collaboration with Lyra Baroque Orchestra. She looks forward to repeating that project in 2019.
In fall 2018 Alyssa joined Arbeit Opera Theatre for its inaugural production, performing the role of Vera Boronel in Menotti's The Consul.
The previous season Alyssa sang alto with Minnesota Chorale and appeared as the alto soloist in Bernstein's Chichester Psalms with the Minnesota Orchestra. Also on that program was William Walton's bombastic oratorio Belshazzar's Feast, conducted by Andrew Litton.
Since making her home in the Twin Cities in 2017, Alyssa has also appeared with Garden of Song Opera (Hansel) and with the Gilbert and Sullivan Very Light Opera Company (Juno, Orpheus in the Underworld).
One of Alyssa's favorite projects in recent years was a concert in the 2016 Berkeley Festival fringe series featuring seldom-performed works by Barbara Strozzi with soprano Amy Goymerac and guitarist Tatiana Senderowicz (theorbo). With additional performances in intimate spaces around the Bay Area -- including a courtyard garden -- the unique program was an extraordinary project Alyssa will never forget.
Also in 2016, Alyssa made her Pocket Opera debut as Tolomeo in Handel's Giulio Cesare, with performances in San Francisco and Berkeley. In Palo Alto with pianist Mark Bruce, Alyssa performed Bach, Alma Mahler, and Rossini for a recital in celebration of Trinity Lutheran Church's 90th Anniversary.
Alyssa completed her M.M. in Voice in 2015 at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she sang the roles of Nerone (L’incoronazione di Poppea) and Amastre (Serse) with the Conservatory Baroque Ensemble. With the Conservatory Opera, Alyssa sang the eccentric Aunt Ag in David Garner's hilarious one-act opera The Money Tree and Nancy in Britten's Albert Herring. She also performed the role of Lucretia (The Rape of Lucretia) in an abridged version of the opera for a unique Britten program, part of a yearlong class at SFCM which focused on preparing roles from Britten's opera repertoire.
As a graduate assistant to the music history department at SFCM, Alyssa enjoyed teaching music history in a classroom setting as well as tutoring privately. In 2012 Alyssa was inducted into the Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society, after having received its award at Millikin University for Outstanding Music Theory and History the previous year. Alyssa was also awarded the Scovill Prize, the highest academic honor at Millikin.
