Lyric mezzo-soprano Natasha Nelson is a classical singer, dancer, and radio host with marked enthusiasm for contemporary classical music. Natasha began the 2023-24 season performing in the world premiere of Rene Orth’s 10 Days in a Madhouse at Opera Philadelphia, and as a soloist in a concert co-presented by Opera Philadelphia and the Marian Anderson Historical Society & Museum, both part of Opera Philadelphia’s Festival O23. In November, she joined the New York Philharmonic Chorus and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in Shanghai to record Aaron Zigman’s new work Émigré on the Deutsche Grammophon recording label. She later performed with the New York Philharmonic Chorus in the work’s U.S. premiere.
Last season, Natasha performed with the Opera Philadelphia Chorus in productions of Rossini’s Otello and La Bohème. In October 2022, she joined the roster of the New York Philharmonic Chorus and performed in the David Geffen Hall opening galas. The second performance, featuring the world premiere of Angélica Negrón’s You Are the Prelude and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, aired on PBS Great Performances in November of that year.
As a soloist, Natasha has performed at the Dramatists Guild of America and DiMenna Center for Classical Music in Manhattan, at the American Musicological Society Conference in Indianapolis, and internationally in Vienna, Austria and Tuscany, Italy. Featured solo concert apprearances have included Robert Schumann’s Spanische Liebeslieder (Alto Soloist) with renowned pianists Gilbert Kalish and Christina Dahl; a concert celebrating Leonard Bernstein’s centennial with guest speaker Nina Bernstein at the Wang Center Theater; and Rossini’s La regata veneziana at Castello Verrazzano in Italy.
Natasha’s opera credits include the creation of leading roles in two new chamber operas, as well as Dido (Dido and Aeneas), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Mère Marie (Dialogues des Carmélites), Tamiri (Il re pastore), La Statue (Pygmalion), Despina (Così fan tutte), and Geraldine (A Hand of Bridge). Natasha has collaborated with composers on more than eight new works: most recently, she performed the dual role of Echo/Narrator in Wilhelmina Esary’s The Unresolved Case of Echo (2022). Esary’s work for chamber ensemble— a mystery-meets-Greek mythology tale composed for voice, clarinet, and harpsichord — fuses sung vocal lines with Vincent Price-inspired storytelling.
In addition to classical voice, Natasha has trained in dance for more than 16 years, and has performed at Symphony Space in Manhattan. Her training ranges from styles including ballet, Horton modern technique, jazz, tap, and Baroque dance.
When she’s not singing, Natasha loves playing tennis, exploring museums and galleries, listening to records, and planning her next radio show. A frequent copy editor, she has edited program books for concerts featuring full orchestra and chamber ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic Quartet. Natasha’s writing has been published in Classical Singer magazine and has appeared in the WUSB Radio Newsletter. To read more about Natasha’s radio show Sound Vines on WUSB 90.1 FM, click here.
Natasha Nelson, Mezzo-Soprano 