Micaëla Aldridge
Mezzo-Soprano
About Micaëla
"One could not take their eyes or ears off the stunning (vocally and visually) mezzo Micaëla Aldridge when she was on stage. While her amazing voice was no surprise, her acting chops blew us away... there was not an emotion that was not strikingly conveyed to the audience with her eyes, facial expressions, and body movements." -Voce di Meche Reviews
American mezzo-soprano Micaëla Aldridge (she/her) is a versatile performer with experience in opera, art song, oratorio, contemporary works, musical theater, jazz, and folk music. Born into a musical family, she began voice lessons at nine years old and started her classical career singing works by her father, composer Robert Aldridge, and appearing on NPR’s From the Top at age seventeen. Ms. Aldridge later went on to receive her bachelor’s degree from Oberlin Conservatory and her master’s degree from the University of Michigan, where she was a recipient of the prestigious Jessye Norman Graduate Fellowship in Voice.
This season, she is pleased to be making her debut at Carnegie Hall in concert with the Vox Feminarum organization for female composers, as well as marking her highly anticipated role debut in the titular role of Carmen with Rutgers Opera. The previous season saw her role debut as the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos with Taconic Opera, as well as performing in a workshop of a new opera Escobar, creating the role of Diana Turbay with Rutgers Opera. She also made her Lincoln Center debut as part of Marshall Opera's second Oral History Project Concert and The Opera Next Door's Summer Stoop Concert Series. In past seasons, she performed with Beth Morrison Projects and VisionIntoArt in their workshop of Paola Prestinis's opera Sensorium Ex, made her debut at Nashville Opera performing the role of Miss Jessel in Britten's The Turn of the Screw and participated in dell'Arte Opera Ensemble's "Voices from the Tower" festival. Ms. Aldridge was also the North Carolina District Winner at the 2019 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. The 2017-2018 season saw her return to Seagle Festival for her second summer, where she performed the role of Cornelia in Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto; in her previous season at Seagle, she appeared as the Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte. While at the University of Michigan, she sang Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as performed in multiple collaborative works, standard repertoire, and world premieres by both student and professional composers. She also performed and curated a solo recital of music written by all female-identifying composers, with a focus on intersectionality and gender issues of the past and present.
Ms. Aldridge has participated in numerous apprenticeships and training programs, including the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program at Central City Opera, where she toured throughout Colorado as Thelma in John Musto’s chamber opera Later the Same Evening. She has also participated in the Miami Music Festival, performing Le Prince Charmant in Cendrillon, and the Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Center. Other notable roles include the title role in The Rape of Lucretia and Florence Pike in Albert Herring, both from her time at Oberlin Conservatory.
Ms. Aldridge resides with her husband, Love, and her Siberian Husky, Balto. She is a student of world-renowned mezzo-soprano Susan Quittmeyer. When she is not performing, she teaches private voice and keyboard lessons in her hometown of Montclair, New Jersey.