Amanda Rae Matson, soprano
Amanda Rae Matson first stepped onto the stage at the age of three, as an active dance member of The Franklin School for the Performing Arts in Franklin, Massachusetts. After more than 10 years as a young dancer, Amanda decided to pursue another musical avenue. She began participating in musical theatre performances with Franklin Performing Arts Company, including a National Tour production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with Broadway in Boston at the Colonial Theatre. She traveled to Europe in 2000, performing as a soloist in a troupe that toured through Austria and Italy, the most notable performance at the Vienna Konzerthaus. By 2003 she had begun her studies in Vocal Performance at Florida State University.
Under the instruction of Wanda Brister, Amanda began what was to become an incredible four years of performing and dramatic experience at Florida State University. During her time at FSU, Amanda was awarded two Academic Leadership Awards and received a Tallahassee Music Guild Scholarship. She served as the Student Coordinator for the Board of Advisors for Undergraduate Admission, advising new students on their curricula and teaching other current students to do the same. In her sophomore year she was cast as the small, but educational role of Kätchen in Massenet’s Werther with the Florida State Opera. Amanda performed numerous scenes under the direction of Matthew Lata in FSU’s Opera Workshop and was cast in the opera chorus for Floyd’s Susannah. In her senior year, Amanda covered the role of Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff and performed as Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel with the Opera Outreach program. In 2007 she received her Bachelor of Music degree, Summa Cum Laude.
In the fall of 2007, Amanda began her graduate studies in Voice Performance and Literature on scholarship at the Eastman School of Music, under the instruction of Rita Shane. Amanda performed as Hanna in the Eastman Opera Theatre production of The Merry Widow in Eastman Theatre in April of 2008, under the direction of Steven Daigle and Benton Hess. She performed a variety of scenes under the direction of Johnathon Pape with Eastman’s Opera Workshop; she was also selected to perform as a finalist in the Jesse Kneisel Lieder Competition in the spring of 2008. That November Amanda performed the role of the Governess in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw. Just two weeks later she performed as a finalist in the Friends of Eastman Opera Voice Competition, judged by Thomas Lausmann, where she received first place and was granted the Lynne Clarke Prize. Amanda obtained her Master’s degree from Eastman in May of 2009 and moved to Boston.
During the fall of 2009, Amanda was granted the pleasure of performing as a supernumerary Cigarette Girl in Boston Lyric Opera’s production of Carmen. This past spring she performed as the Second Spirit in The Magic Flute with MetroWest Opera. Amanda can be seen this summer as Giannetta in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore with Opera del West.