Artist Spotlight: Wagnerian Powerhouse Meagan Miller

Juilliard-trained dramatic soprano Meagan Miller is one of the leading Wagnerian specialists of her generation. Throughout her career, the versatile artist has performed diverse music of many eras and in nine different languages on some of the most important stages all over the world, including New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

Born in Wilmington, Delaware, the American soprano grew up in Ohio and Pennsylvania. She began her vocal training at the Washington and Lee University in Virginia before transferring to the Juilliard School of Music in New York. Her teachers at the renowned conservatoire included Cynthia Hoffmann, Marilyn Horne, Ruth Falcon, and Hilde Zadek.

MEAGAN MILLER AS MINNIE IN ‘LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST’, PALERMO, ©STUDIO CAMERA

In 1999, Miller was one of five winners at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, where she performed ‘Martern aller Arten’ from Die Entführung aus dem Serail and ‘Ain’t It a Pretty Night?’ from Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah. The New York Times described her interpretation of ‘Martern aller Arten’ as proving ‘her agility, thrust and command of intonation’ and that ‘her voice is strong and brilliant’.

In 2008, Miller garnered both the George London/Kirsten Flagstad Award and the George London Foundation Vienna Prize.

After her early years performing in various American opera houses including New York City Opera, Orlando Opera, Kentucky Opera, Syracuse Opera, Eugene Opera, San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and the Minnesota Opera, among others, the soprano made her debut at the Vienna Volksoper in 2009 as the title heroine in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos and soon after performed this role at the Bavarian Staatsoper.

Miller’s Viennese operatic debut brought her many more roles on the stages of some of the most prestigious opera houses in Europe, including the State Operas of Vienna, Munich and Hamburg. During that time, she began to establish herself as a powerhouse in the late-Romantic German repertoire. Her performance as Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at Leipzig Opera is but one example of a memorable Wagnerian performance.

MEAGAN MILLER AS ARIADNE IN ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, VOLKSOPER WIEN, ©DIMO DIMOV

In November 2013, Meagan Miller made her first Metropolitan Opera appearance in the role of the Empress in Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten. The Kaiserin is a demanding role, considered to be one of opera’s most difficult parts. Miller however, rose to the occasion showing off her skill and stamina with great panache, winning over one of the toughest opera crowds in the world.

Meagan Miller’s wide repertoire also includes Mozart roles such as the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni‘s Donna Anna and Donna Elvira, and Fiordiligi from Così fan tutte. As a concert and lieder singer she performs works from the Baroque to the present, having premiered many pieces written specifically for her voice. Most notably, she has collaborated with American classical composer Libby Larsen on ‘Try Me, Good King: The Last Words of the Wives of Henry VIII’, a song cycle written based on the text taken from the dying letters and execution speeches of the ill-fated wives of the iconic British king.

DIE LIEBE DER DANAË, BARD SUMMERSCAPE, ©CORY WEAVER

Other noteworthy performances include Minnie in Puccini’s La fanciulla del West at the Teatro Massimo Palermo, Elisabetta in Verdi’s Don Carlo at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser at the Hungarian Staatsoper Budapest, and her debut at the Vienna Staatsoper as Strauss’s Daphne. In fact, Vienna is where Meagan makes her home with her husband and two young children.

Miller has recorded CDs of Beethoven, Brückner, Libby Larsen, and Richard Strauss, and her most recent recording, the title role in the world premiere full studio recording of Cesar Franck’s opera, Hulda, comes out in Fall 2020 on Naxos Records.

A passionate advocate for the next generation, Meagan is a lecturer, master teacher, voice teacher, and stage director for select projects.

As it happens, on Thursday, 28 May, at 01:00 p.m. EDT, Meagan will appear as a guest mentor on Erik Liberman’s Bridge to Broadway, an online training platform that connects young professionals with Broadway actors, directors, music directors, composers, lyricists, casting directors, and vocal coaches in behind-the-scenes conversations. Fans will get a chance to find out more about Meagan and ask her any questions.