Mary-Ellen Nesi

Mezzo-soprano Mary-Ellen Nesi has received the highest critical acclaim for her performances in opera, concert and recital.

In opera she has performed the title roles in Handel’s Serse and Oreste, Ruggiero in Alcina, Andronico in Tamerlano, Polinesso in Ariodante, Iside in Giove in Argo, Megacle in Paisiello’s L’Olimpiade, Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice, Adalgisa in Norma, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Penelope in Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria, Antiope in Ercole su’l Termodonte, Anastasio in Vivaldi’s Giustino, Mitrena, Fernando and Ramiro in Motezuma, Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Ramiro in La Finta Giardiniera, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Teresa in La Sonnambula, Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana, Tebaldo in Don Carlos and principal roles in operas by contemporary Greek composers.

Mary-Ellen Nesi has appeared at major international venues such as the Carnegie Hall, the Avery Fisher Hall (NY), the Places des Arts (Montreal), the Bayerisches Staatsoper (Munich), the Théâtre de Champs-Elysées (Paris), the Teater an der Wien (Vienna), the Arriaga (Bilbao), the Sao Carlos Opera (Lisbon), the Comunale of Florence, Ferrara, Piacenza and Modena, the Monumental (Madrid), the Caio Melisso (Spoleto), the Wiesbaden Opera House, the Teatro de la Maestranza (Seville) and festivals such as the Spoleto Festival, the Göttingen and the Halle Händel Festspielen, the Santiago de Compostela Festival, the Athens Festival and she is a regular guest at the Greek National Opera, the Megaron of Athens, the Megaron of Thessaloniki, the Opera of Thessaloniki.

She has performed with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Charles Dutoit, the RTV Orchestra of Spain, the Complesso Barocco under Alan Curtis, the Camerata Stuttgart and all major Greek Orchestras.

She has recorded Handel’s operas “Oreste”(as Oreste), “Arianna in Creta” (as Teseo) and “Tamerlano” (as Andronico) under George Petrou (by MDG, Germany). She performs Antiope in the DVD of Ercole su’l Termodonte and Polinesso in the DVD of Ariodante under Alan Curtis (Dynamic).

Born in Montreal, Canada, of Greek parents, Mary-Ellen Nesi studied in Athens under Misa Ikeutsi, graduating with distinction in 1994. She also took voice lessons from Ernst Haefliger in Zurich, Arrigo Pola in Modena, Frangiskos Voutsinos and Kostas Paskalis in Athens.