I am a dramatic singer who will not be pigeonholed. I am a Zwischenfach, which Richard Miller explains in his National Schools of Singing: English, French, German and Italian Techniques of Singing Revisited is a type of soprano voice. This voice type lies between the soprano and mezzo-soprano ranges and is used for dramatic roles with a specific tessitura. Roles that fit this fach and me include Ariadne, Donna Elvira, Eboli, and Ortrud.

 

As part of my mission to not be compartmentalized, I have recently gone public about my experiences and struggles as a dyslexic opera singer. One example of this is by posting about dyslexia every Thursday on my Instagram for what I fondly like to call #DyslexicThursdays. In these posts I aim to educate others on what dyslexia is, give music learning tips, and to show my fellow dyslexics they are not alone. I recently had the honor of being featured in the fall issue of Classical Singer Magazine, "Making a Difference: Samantha Nahra, Dyslexia, and Music Learning," where I was interviewed by Alec Arnett.

 

I firmly believe that new music is the future of opera. In fact, I am so vehement about it that during the time of COVID I have become a librettist! So far I have written two YouTube operas: A Dramatic Soprano Tries Cooking…The Opera and it’s sequel, A Dramatic Soprano Tries Cooking Again…The Opera, which were composed by fellow dyslexic Philip Wharton. These operas can be found on my YouTube channel and on Opera on Tap’s YouTube channel, where they have had their company premiere. In 2023 at the Winter Solstice, at the HERE Arts Center with Opera on Tap, my poem “The Divergent Night” will have it’s world premiere with accompanying music composed by the Obie-awarding-winning Diedre Murray. This is a production I will be performing in so make sure to mark your calendars!