Deborah Selig
Music Performance Faculty in Voice
Classical singer and voice teacher. I work with my students to develop a strong vocal technique that allows a healthy and free expression of their natural voice. I also emphasize strengthening musicianship and communicating a clear dramatic point of view with every performance.
Soprano Deborah Selig performs repertoire spanning music from the baroque to contemporary in opera, oratorio and art song across the United States. Ms. Selig also is passionate about teaching and mentoring the next generation of singers, currently serving on the voice faculties of Wellesley College, Brown University, and the summer Boston University Tanglewood Institute.
In recent seasons, Ms. Selig has appeared as Micaela in Carmen with Dayton Opera; Sybil Vane in Liebermann’s The Picture of Dorian Gray with Odyssey Opera; Pamina in The Magic Flute with Boston Lyric Opera; Musetta in La Boheme and Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Central City Opera; Rose in Street Scene with Chautauqua Opera; both Curley’s Wife in Floyd’s Of Mice and Men and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Kentucky Opera; and Bella in Tippet’s A Midsummer Marriage with Boston Modern Orchestra Project.
On the concert stage, performances have included Brahms’ Requiem with Buffalo and Dayton Philharmonics; Bach Cantatas 36, 92 and 97 with Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society; Amphytrite in Purcell’s The Tempest with The Henry Purcell Society of Boston; Mozart’s Requiem with Brown University; the US premiere of C. Herbert Parry’s Invocation to Music with Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus; Haydn’s Creation with Harvard University Choirs; Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3 with Kentucky Symphony; Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Masterworks Chorale and Handel’s Messiah with Rhode Island Philharmonic.
Recordings include Marcia Kraus’ Three Fairy Tales for Soprano, Oboe and Piano with Centaur Records and both Virgil Thomson’s Four Saints in Three Acts and Paul Moravec’s Blizzard Voices with Boston Modern Orchestra Project and BMOP Sound.
Ms. Selig earned an Artist Diploma in Opera and MM in Voice degrees from Cincinnati CollegeConservatory of Music and a summa cum laude BM/BA in Voice and English from the University of Michigan. Apprenticeships included Chautauqua Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Ravinia Festival Steans Institute and Tanglewood Music Center.
Education
- B.A., BM., University of Michican, School of Music
- M.M., University of Cincinnati, College (Conservatory of Music)
- Artist Diploma, University of Cincinnati, College (Conservatory of Music)
Current and upcoming courses
Advanced Performance Seminar
MUS344
Music 344 offers an exciting opportunity for accomplished performing music students to develop their artistry and performance skills on a high level. Qualified students participate in this weekly performance class in addition to their weekly one-hour lessons (MUS 344-M) with their private instructors, and develop their abilities by performing frequently in class and receiving constructive feedback. Students also grow as musicians by listening to other students perform, by being exposed to the broad range of repertoire presented in class, and by participating in the process of constructive criticism. In conjunction with their in-class performances, students are asked to provide brief, written background information about their repertoire to enhance their understanding of the music and to prepare for writing program notes. Students should plan on a time investment of about 14 hours per week. Students enrolled for the full year, as is strongly encouraged, perform a jury in the Fall and full recital in the Spring. Students who choose Honors in Performance (Honors Program III) must take MUS 344 as part of their MUS 360 and MUS 370 thesis work, the two components counting as 1 unit of credit per semester.