Dominican-American Mezzo-Soprano, Melisa Bonetti Luna, has been hailed by Opera Today as "a warm, supple mezzo that struck all the right impressions" and as "commanding a wonderful presence in the lower middle voice but also easily soaring heavenward with a well-schooled top." Highlights include soloist at Carnegie Hall for Bach’s Magnificat and Christmas Oratorio with The Cecilia Chorus of New York, soloist at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center and at the Kimmel Center with the Philadelphia Orchestra in a concert of Ancient Tang Poems with the !Sing!, and the title role in Carmen with the Hogfish festival in which the performers collectively devised a new adaptation of the work.
Melisa’s career has had a focus on new opera’s, often times with a focus on LatinX and Hispanic storytelling, including as Federico Garcia Lorca in Ainadamar with the Lexington Philharmonic, Mother in the premiere of Paraíso by Sokio and Natasha Tiniacos at National Sawdust, Tyler in the premiere and grammy-nominated recording of Three Way by Robert Patterson and David Cote with Nashville Opera and American Opera Projects, in Nashville and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, a Naxos recording of a new wind orchestra arrangement of Granados' Tonadillas, the premiere of The Climate Opera Project at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with American Opera Projects, the premiere of Five Ways to Die, a post-classical rock opera with Experiments in Opera, Eva in An American Dream with Virginia Opera, and the premiere of A Marvelous Order by Judd Greenstein and Tracy K. Smith at Penn State University, and Isabela in Catan's La Hija de Rappaccini with Des Moines Metro Opera. Melisa has programmed about half a dozen recitals in the last two years featuring spanish-language art-song, working with and programming works by contemporary LatinX composer collaborators. Workshops include New Works Collective with Opera Theatre Saint Louis, La Alcaldesa by Laura Jobin-Acosta and Sandra Flores-Strand at Opera America, On the Road to Arivaca by Rosino Serrano and Susan Galbraith with Alliance for New Music-Theatre, and Champion by Blanchard in CCM.
Also continuing her performance of standard repertoire, Melisa has performed as Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Virginia Opera, Anita in West Side Story with the Brott Music Festival in Ontario, Maddalena in Rigoletto with Opera San Jose, Stephano in Romeo et Juliette with Opera San Jose, Trasimede in Admeto by Handel with Opera Essentia, Die Knusperhexe in Hansel und Gretel with Union Avenue Opera, soloist with the Dayton Philharmonic for both Handel's Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem, soloist for De Falla’s El Amor Brujo with the Queens Symphony Orchestra, soloist in Bach’s St. John Passion with the Dessoff choirs, and many more. Other companies that Melisa has sung with include Wolf Trap Opera, the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra in China, the Metropolitan Opera Guild, Cincinnati Opera, Dayton Opera, Opera Columbus, Kentucky Opera, The Emilia Romagna Festival in Italy, Concert: Nova, Collegium Cincinnati, Queen City Opera, The Shippensburg Festival, and others.
Ms.Bonetti completed her Master’s at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and her Bachelor's at Queens College's Aaron Copland School of Music in New York. Although Melisa is classically trained, she enjoys frequent jazz engagements, improvisation, and includes fusion of styles in her concert programming. Melisa also joined the voice faculty at the Bay View Music Festival in summer 2024. |