Alison Bolshoi, American contralto, made her role debut as Carmen in Boheme Opera, NJ’s March 2024 production, to absolutely stellar reviews. She made her debut at The Dallas Opera in 10/22 as Giovanna in Rigoletto and she performed with MidAmerica Productions and the New England Symphonic Ensemble at Carnegie Hall in 3/22, following prior performances with the company at Carnegie Hall in 2018 & 2019. Ms. Bolshoi sang Ortrud from Lohengrin in a masterclass with The Wagner Society of New York in 9/22. She made her debut as Amneris in Verdi’s Aida with Boheme Opera, NJ in 2019 and returned to Boheme Opera, NJ to sing the Witch in Hansel and Gretel in December 2022.
Ms. Bolshoi will be the mezzo soloist in Connecticut Choral Society’s April 14, 2024 concert of Monteverdi’s Vespers 1610.
Ms. Bolshoi fulfills the Wagner and Verdi repertoire with a vocal radiance and lyricism seldom heard in dramatic voices. Her insightful interpretation of each character makes her presence onstage mesmerizing. Ms. Bolshoi made her international debut at La Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, in a concert featuring excerpts from Wagner, Strauss and Schillings. Shortly afterward she joined the roster of The San Francisco Opera as a cover in Der fliegende Holländer. Ms. Bolshoi was a soloist with The Huntsville Symphony, Alabama, and gave concerts as part of the Bach to Bartok Festival with Accademia Pianistica, in Imola, Italy. She sang leading roles with One World Symphony, NY, and was a soloist for the Alfredo Silipigni Memorial Concert with the New Jersey State Opera at NJPAC. Ms. Bolshoi sang her first Verdi Requiem with the NY Symphonic Arts Ensemble, for their 25 Year Anniversary Gala in 2018. Later that same year she was asked to sing the Berlioz contralto piece La mort de Cléopâtre with the same company. Ms. Bolshoi made her debut with Opera Theatre of Montclair (NJ) in 2017 in a concert version of Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner.
Ms. Bolshoi created the Contralto role of Debbie Phillips in Bum Phillips: All American Opera, at the La Mama Theatre in NYC in 2014. The opera was received well by NY critics, and was brought to Houston, Texas in September 2015. In 2010, Ms. Bolshoi was the soloist for the opening gala concert at Český Krumlov, with the Prague Radio Symphony, Czech Republic, and returned the following year to perform in Dvorak’s Rusalka. The production took place in the historic Revolving Theatre, and Ms. Bolshoi became a spokesperson for the theatre.
Ms. Bolshoi made her professional debut singing the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors with Il Piccolo Teatro dell’Opera, NY in 2008. She worked for 12 years in the Wagner Festival Orchestra Program in NYC run by Patricia Sage and Barbara Conrad, intensely studying Wagner roles she sings today with aplomb.
Awards
Ms. Bolshoi won the Liederkranz International Competition, Wagner Section, The Gerda Lissner Foundation Award, and the Altamura-Caruso Foundation Award. She has been recognized through continued awards and sponsorship by: The American Wagner Association, NY, The Wagner Society of New York and The Wagner Association of America, Chicago. At the beginning of her career, Ms. Bolshoi was sponsored by The Evelyn Lear & Thomas Stewart Emerging Singers Program of Washington, D.C.