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Biography
“Mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert was impossible to ignore…. She has a pure, powerful and appealing voice and a forceful stage presence to match.”
-The Denver Post
Mezzo-Soprano Blythe Gaissert has established herself as a young artist in great demand in the United States for opera, concert and recital engagements. This Texas native has received great praise from critics for her rich sound and intense, dramatic interpretations of operatic roles. Of her recent performance of in Transformations with San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, the San Francisco Philistine said “The cannibalism aria of mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert wetted our appetite with her soft-edged voice.”
Equally at home on the concert stage, Ms. Gaissert has appeared in the American premiere of Gyorgy Ligeti’s Sippal, Dobbal, Nadihegiduvel, as well as the American premiere Louis Andriessen’s Y Despues with the Aspen Music Festival. She has also established herself as a favorite with many American composers leading to an ongoing relationship with the Foundation for Modern Music in Houston Texas, Americana Arts Foundation Productions and the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble. Other concert performances include Alto Soloist in Zemlinsky’s Psalm 83 with James Conlon and the Cincinnati Symphony as well as multiple performances of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Ms. Gaissert has performed the title role in Carmen at the Aspen Music Festival under the baton of Julius Rudel and also in a semi-staged concert version for Lake George Opera, Mere Marie in Dialogues of the Carmelites under the baton of James Conlon, Maddelena in Rigoletto under the baton of Julius Rudel, (with the Aspen Opera Theatre Center), Suzuki with Opera Plus! In Coeur D’Alene, ID, Lady Angela in Patience (Sorg Opera), Augusta Tabor in The Ballad of Baby Doe, Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible, and the title role of Benjamin Britten's The Rape of Lucretia (Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music). Ms. Gaissert has also performed with the Sarasota Opera, Cincinnati Opera, and the Opera Teatro di Lucca. She has also participated in many of the country’s major young artist programs such as the Merola Program at San Francisco Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Lake George Opera and Sarasota Opera.
In 2006, Ms. Gaissert was recognized as a Finalist in Fort Worth Opera’s Marguerite McCammon Competition, Shreveport Opera’s Singer of the Year Competition with the Gretchen Crow Award, and as a semi-finalist with the Elardo Competition.