Soprano Deborah Selig is quickly gaining recognition for her rich, shimmering voice, her excellent artistic instincts and fine execution of the lyric soprano repertoire.  For her recent Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), The New London Day hailed the young Ms. Selig as “…the star throughout…” and added “....her sense of line and nuance were matched only by the sheer beauty of her tone and power of projection.” Her recent Zerlina (Don Giovanni) was described by the Wexford News as “…purely charming...” while the Cincinnati Enquirer wrote, “Deborah Selig was absolutely stunning as the peasant bride…” 

A native of Washington, DC, Ms. Selig has performed operatic roles with a number of US companies including Dayton Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Central City Opera, Mobile Opera and Connecticut Lyric Opera.  In concert, she has sung with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cincinnati Baroque, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, the CCM Chamber Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra.  This season she joins the prestigious Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program after which she goes to Pittsburgh Opera as a member of the Pittsburgh Opera Center. 

Ms. Selig’s very full performance schedule has included excellent successes in recent seasons.  In addition to Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro) for Connecticut Lyric Opera and Zerlina (Don Giovanni) for Central City Opera, she has performed Valencienne (The Merry Widow) for Mobile Opera, Adele (Die Fledermaus) together with Amy (Little Women) for Dayton Opera, and Mary Warren (The Crucible) and Hodel (Fiddler on the Roof) for Chautauqua Opera. Additionally, she has covered Abigail (The Crucible) for Chautauqua Opera and Marion (The Music Man) also for Chautauqua Opera. Next in 2007, Ms. Selig covers Musetta (La Bohème) for Santa Fe Opera and tours the role of Tessa (Trinity), a new John Kennedy opera, also for Santa Fe Opera.  Upcoming in the 2007-2008 Season for Pittsburgh Opera, Ms. Selig sings Gianetta in L’elisir d’amore, the High Priestess in Aida, and Tina in Jonathan Dove’s Flight.  She adds cover assignments of Giulietta in I Capuleti ed I Montecchi and Adina in L’elisir d’amore with the company.

On the concert stage, Ms. Selig has performed Handel’s Messiah, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, Fauré’s Requiem, and Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs with various orchestras in the US. In recital, Ms. Selig’s has sung Hugo Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch with baritone Jesse Blumberg and pianist Martin Katz in both Ann Arbor, Michigan and Cincinnati, Ohio. Upcoming is Carmina Burana with the Greater Bridgeport Symphony.

Ms. Selig’s early professional training began as a student at the prestigious Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.  There she performed her first Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro and added Sandrina in La Finta Giardiniera and Gretel in Hansel and Gretel.  She next trained as an apprentice artist and studio artist with Chautauqua Opera, was a fellow at the distinguished Tanglewood Music Center, and she attended the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena and the Bay View Music Festival.  Other roles as part of her training included Clorinda in La Cenerentola, Foreign Woman in The Consul, Gianetta in The Gondoliers, and Yum-Yum in The Mikado.

Ms. Selig is the recipient of the distinguished Shoshana Foundation Richard F. Gold Career Grant, is a winner of the Southern Ohio district Metropolitan Opera Competition, and she won  2^nd place in the National Opera Association Competition.  Most recently, Ms. Selig was chosen as a finalist in both the Jensen Foundation Competition and the Liederkranz Competition (lieder division).

Ms. Selig received an Artist Diploma in Opera and a Master of Music from Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in 2006 and 2004, respectively.  She is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan where she received a double degree in Voice Performance and English in 2002.