A moment of Melina
Heralded by Opera News for her “lush” voice, Melina Jaharis is a Greek-American with a “rich, dark, resonant” mezzo soprano.
For the beginning of the 2023-2024 season, Melina will cover Santuzza and Lucia with MidAtlantic Opera Productions and La Gran Vestale with Teatro Grattacielo. This winter brings La Ciesca and Marianna (Il signor Bruschino), the Fairy Queen (Iolanthe) with Bronx Opera. Melina will be performing Azucena with STC in concert. This spring, Melina joins LAH-SOW in Das Rheingold as both Fricka and Erda in different concerts.
Future seasons include Kate Mayo (Beyond the Horizon) with Teatro Grattacielo and Carmen. Melina will join the Oxford Philharmonic (UK) to sing the Verdi Requiem and die Krönungsmesse in 2026.
Highlights of her 2022-2023 included covering Madre in Madama Butterfly and scenes as Eboli and Ulrica with Sarasota Opera. That summer she covered Amneris, Ortrud and Mrs. Soames with Utah Festival Opera. She also sang the title role of Carmen with MIOpera.
In 2018, Melina sang with Wolf Trap Opera, performing Contessa di Ceprano and covering Maddalena. Equally comfortable speaking German and English, she studied in Vienna, Austria at the Konservatorium Prayner in the year before her graduate studies. Melina is a Greek citizen.
Opera News
"Melina Jaharis unveiled a lush mezzo as Isabella.”
Chicago Tribune
“Melina Jaharis brought a rich contralto to Ma Moss, Laurie's widowed mother, who lives an unrealized life through her daughters.”
Chatham Life and Style
“Jaharis’ resonant, dark [mezzo] soprano allowed for a lot of flexibility within this role, which is ideal for the immense range this role has with contralto-like writing in some places and soprano-like writing in others. They navigated each of these with confidence and careful dexterity for a performance that captured so much of the essence of Hannah After’s spirit.”
