Masterclass Monday
New Orleans Opera and Loyola University have a long and rich relationship, with a history of many partnerships, including Masterclasses. We are proud to collaborate again this year in the virtual environment, and we are excited that we can invite you to join us.
Masterclasses play a very important role in the development of a young singer. According to Fred Plotkin, “Masterclasses are one of the most fascinating aspects of the process of taking talented but inexperienced young singers and trying to polish and mold them while allowing them to retain what makes them special.”
New Orleans Opera is grateful to those participating in this Masterclass Series for allowing us a glimpse into the special journey of an opera singer. Mark your calendars to join us – free of charge!
Nancy Maultsby – March 15, 2021 (NEW DATE!)
- 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm CST
- Sponsored by Loyola University
Students
- Emily Acuña, soprano – senior
- Julia Ernst, mezzo-soprano – freshman
- Samantha Resser, mezzo-soprano – graduate student
- Allison Waguespack, soprano – senior
About Nancy Maultsby:
Last seen at the New Orleans Opera in the Verdi Requiem in 2010. American mezzo-soprano Nancy Maultsby is in demand by opera companies and orchestras throughout the world. Her unique vocal timbre and insightful musicianship allow her to pursue a repertoire extending from the operas of Monteverdi and Handel to recent works by John Adams. She regularly performs the major heroines of nineteenth-century French, Italian, and German opera and the great symphonic masterpieces.
Read more about Nancy on her website here.

Alfred Walker – April 26, 2021
- 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm CST
- Sponsored by New Orleans Opera
About Alfred Walker:
New Orleans native Alfred Walker is a graduate of Dillard University, Loyola University, and the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Program. He is also the recipient of awards from the George London Foundation, Palm Beach Opera Competition, Houston Opera Studio’s Eleanor McCollum Competition, and the Sullivan Foundation career grant.
Mr. Walker was lauded by Opera News for his “inky bass-baritone and clear projection that seemed ideally suited to the role, capturing this isolated man’s passion with telling grief,” for his performance as Crown in the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Porgy and Bess.
Read more about Alfred on his website here.

View upcoming Loyola Music Events Here.
Previous Masterclasses
JANE EAGLEN – December 14, 2020
- 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm CST
- Sponsored by Loyola University
Students:
Antonio Domino, tenor
Julianna Espinosa, soprano
Julia Tuneberg, soprano
Jeremiah Tyson, tenor
About Jane Eaglen:
Jane Eaglen has enjoyed one of the most formidable reputations in opera for the past two decades. Her performances of roles such as Isolde in Tristan und Isolde, the title roles in Puccini’s Turandot, Bellini’s Norma, and Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, and Brünnhilde in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen have earned her acclaim on stages of the leading opera houses of the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scala, Vienna State Opera, and l’Opéra National de Paris.
Read more about Jane on her website here.

GREER GRIMSLEY – December 7, 2020
- 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm CST
- Sponsored by the New Orleans Opera
Students:
Samuel Ater, bass-baritone
Nora Cullinan, soprano
Veronica Samiec, soprano
Alysa Foster, soprano
Garrin Mesa, baritone
About Greer Grimsley:
Greer Grimsley is internationally recognized as an outstanding singing actor and one of the most prominent Wagnerian singers of our day. Continuing his reign as a leading interpreter of the god Wotan, he sang the eminent role once again in the Spring of 2019 for the Metropolitan Opera’s Der Ring des Nibelungen in the reprisal of Robert Lepage’s landmark production from 2013. New Orleans is lucky to have Greer and his family call the city home!
Read more about Greer on his website here.
