MELISSA ZGOURIDI
MEZZO-SOPRANO
BIOGRAPHY
Brazilian-American mezzo-soprano Melissa Zgouridi has been lauded by audiences and critics alike for her “sublime, sparkling bronze voice” (Forumopera.com) and “passionate interpretation” (Das Opernglas).
Melissa opens her 2025/2026 season with a return to the Stadtheater Klagenfurt, where she will sing her first Brangäne in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde in a new production by Aron Stiehl, conducted by Chin-Chao Lin. She then makes her house and role debut as Cornelia in Giulio Cesare at the Salzburger Landestheater, directed by Chiara Osella and Carlo Massari, and conducted by Carlo Cimento. In Spring 2026, Melissa returns to the Metropolitan Opera to cover Isabel Leonard, as Frida Kahlo in Gabriela Lena Frank's El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego, directed by Deborah Colker and conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The season culminates with Melissa’s debut at the Bregenzer Festspiele, where she will perform as Annina in a new production of La Traviata on the Seebühne, directed by Damiano Michieletto and conducted by Kirill Karabits.
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During the 2024/2025 season, Melissa sang Carmen in a new production for Theater Hagen and made her role debut as Erda in Siegfried at the Saarländisches Staatstheater. She returned to Theater Dortmund as Erda in both Das Rheingold and Siegfried as part of their presentation of the full Ring cycle. In May 2025, Melissa performed Erda in a concert version of Siegfried at the Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles with Sébastien Rouland and the Saarländisches Staatsorchester.
Her engagements in 2023/2024 included the 3rd Weird Sister in Pascal Dusapin’s Macbeth Underworld at the Opéra Comique (directed by Thomas Jolly, conducted by Franck Ollu), Prinz Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus with Stadttheater Klagenfurt (directed by Aron Stiehl, conducted by Nicholas Milton), Erda in a new production of Das Rheingold at Theater Dortmund (directed by Peter Konwitschny, conducted by Gabriel Feltz) and covering Suzuki in Anthony Minghella’s celebrated production of Madama Butterfly at the Metropolitan Opera.
From 2021 to 2023, Melissa was a member of the ensemble at the Saarländisches Staatstheater, where she quickly became a "crowd favorite" (OPUS Kulturmagazin) through her dynamic portrayals of Carmen (Carmen), Ruggiero (Alcina), Erda (Das Rheingold) and Prinz Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus). In 2023, she originated the role of Laertes in the world premiere of Sarah Nemtsov’s Ophelia. Melissa appeared with the Saarländisches Staatstheater at the Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles as both Erda and Floßhilde in a concert version of Das Rheingold and at the Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg as the 3rd Weird Sister in Pascal Dusapin’s Macbeth Underworld.
Additional previous engagements include Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder with ensembleKONTRASTE under the baton of Jac van Steen in Nürnberg, Roßweiße in a concert version of Wagner’s Die Walküre for Staatstheater Augsburg and Lehrbuben in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Salzburg Easter Festival, conducted by Christian Thielemann and directed by Jens-Daniel Herzog. A passionate oratorio and concert performer, she has been heard as a soloist in a range of repertoire in Austria, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands and the United States.
Melissa has earned numerous accolades, including being a finalist at the 2024 Elizabeth Connell Competition at Wigmore Hall, a finalist and recipient of the Eva Kleinitz Award at the Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino, and the recipient of both Fifth Prize and the Mercedes Viñas Extraordinary Prize at the Tenor Vinãs Competition at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Melissa is a grantee of the Olga Forrai Foundation for Dramatic Voices, a Bayreuth scholarship holder of the International Richard Wagner Association and a recipient of a Fulbright Grant.
Melissa holds a master’s degree in Lied and Oratorio performance, with distinction, from the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg and a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from the Eastman School of Music (USA). Melissa resides in Austria.
Current as of June 1, 2025
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"Melissa Zgouridi...portrays a Carmen full of fire..." – Online Musik Magazin
Carmen – “Melissa Zgouridi is an outstanding choice for the title role. With her velvety, dark mezzo-soprano, she portrays a Carmen full of fire, setting men's hearts ablaze. She begins with an intensely seductive presentation of the famous "Habanera" and shows absolute mastery with the castanets in the second act...She also gives moving performances in the card scene and in the final [duet]…”
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"With [Zgourdi], the well-known opera classic feels entirely contemporary." – Ruhr Nachrichten
Carmen – "Instead of being excessively sensual and lascivious, Melissa Zgouridi portrays the lead role as strong, self-assured, and vulnerable. Her Carmen is not a walking adjective. She is a mature, multi-layered character. This is also reflected in her singing, which at times is casually provocative, at others dark and heavy, captivating the entire hall. With her, the well-known opera classic feels entirely contemporary.”
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"...a versatile mezzo-soprano of velvety warmth..." – Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung
Carmen – "Melissa Zgouridi is an impressive Carmen. Her portrayal is marked by a commanding stage presence and a versatile mezzo-soprano of velvety warmth. She masterfully captures the many facets of the role, from subtle coquettishness to dramatic outbursts, bringing them to life with remarkable nuance."
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"...the ideal Carmen..." – Neue Musikzeitung
Carmen – "Melissa Zgouridi, a wonderful mezzo, is the ideal Carmen because she brings incredible presence to every aspect of the role, giving her character strikingly clear definition."
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"Melissa Zgouridi...has an enormous range." – Saarbrücker Zeitung
Siegfried – “…Melissa Zgouridi's alto is dark, powerful, yet wonderfully soft and has an enormous range.”
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"[Zgouridi's] voice is strong, rich, and...mysterious" – Oper!
Siegfried – “A dark, pleasantly soothing counterpoint to [Wotan] is Melissa Zgouridi as Erda. Her voice is strong, rich, and as mysterious as the mist rising from her sleeves […]”
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"Zgouridi [is] an impressive goddess with remarkable vocal power...a beautifully dusky timbre...[and] magnetic presence" – Forum Opéra
Siegfried –“The entrance of the young Melissa Zgouridi, an impressive goddess with remarkable vocal power and a beautifully dusky timbre, makes a striking impact. Her magnetic presence is all the more arresting following the orchestra’s wild, pounding energy."
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"Melissa Zgouridi [is] an artist we will certainly be following closely..." – Cresendo Magazine
Siegfried – "The female roles were also a highlight, notably the Erda of young Melissa Zgouridi, an artist we will certainly be following closely from now on. Her broad range and warm timbre are complemented by excellent projection across the entire tessitura...[Her] clear diction and musicality, particularly in long phrases, were equally impressive."
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“…sublime, sparkling bronze singing…” – Christine Ducq, ForumOpera.com
Das Rheingold – “Finally, one can't help but understand Wotan […] yielding to the sublime, sparkling bronze singing of Melissa Zgouridi's Erda, an ideally Wagnerian young mezzo, who passionately binds us to her every word ("I know all that was, all that will be"). Coming from the Urwala and messenger of Eternity, her mysterious warning has the superior accentuations of the great tragediennes of the past.”
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“…a broad, velvety and powerful timbre…” – Axel Driffort, Olyrix.com
Das Rheingold – “Finally, Flosshilde by Melissa Zgouridi – who is also performing Erda this evening – with a broad, velvety and powerful timbre, stands out particularly for the clarity of her vowels as well as the length of her sentences. In [Erda's] scene, the lyricism of her tessitura, as well as the constancy of her projection and the intensity of her vibrato in the treble are particularly noticeable."
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“…when she sings, a sonorous voice pours out & enchants the ear…” – Oliver Schwambach, Saarbrücker Zeitung
Das Rheingold – “One must indeed wait for Melissa Zgouridi’s sublime alto, her appearance as Erda, but when she sings, a sonorous voice pours out & enchants the ear. When this earth mother speaks & singes, even Wotan, father of the gods, takes two steps back.”
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"With her passionate interpretation & remarkable technique, she achieved by far the greatest success." – Das Opernglas
Alcina – "The young mezzo-soprano Melissa Zgouridi, who has been a member of the Saarbrücken ensemble since 2021, shines as Ruggiero, actually a castrato role. The pants role is one of the most beautiful & demanding Handel roles ever. Zgouridi's darkly colored voice has expression, character, substance. With her passionate interpretation & remarkable technique, she achieved by far the greatest success."
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"...an enchantingly beautiful mezzo, strong characterization, warm, full of colors..." – Saarbrücker Zeitung
Alcina – "And then the voices: In this production, they almost deliver an overabundance of good sound…& then especially Melissa Zgouridi [with] an enchantingly beautiful mezzo, strong characterization, warm, full of colors. If you heard her as Ruggiero, in this trouser role, the possible casting of the part with a countertenor would seem almost absurd."
REPRESENTATIVES
General