Rhea Olivacc茅

rhea olivacce

Adjunct Assistant Professor Rhea Olivacc茅, soprano, is known for her 鈥渨onderfully warm lyric soprano voice.鈥 She has performed the leading soprano roles of Tatyana in Tchaikovsky鈥檚 Eugene Onegin and Mimi in Puccini鈥檚 La Boh猫me, both conducted by Martin Katz at University of 麻豆传媒应用鈥揂nn Arbor. Other roles at UMAA include La Contessa in Mozart鈥檚 Le Nozze di Figaro and Suzel in Mascagni鈥檚 L鈥檃mico Fritz. Additionally, Olivacc茅 performed the roles of Gasparina in Haydn鈥檚 La Cantarina and the title role in Holst鈥檚 Savitri with Florida International University Opera Theatre. She appeared as an Apprentice Artist with Des Moines Metro Opera in 2011 where she covered Musetta in Puccini鈥檚 La Boh猫me and Sarasota Opera in 2012 where she was awarded the Ann O鈥橠onnell Scholarship Award for Outstanding Apprentice. Olivacc茅 participated in outreach scene concerts, as Mimi in La Boh猫me with Mercury Opera in Rochester, New York. Additionally, she collaborated with the Raisin River Ragtime Revue featuring excerpts from the ragtime opera, Treemonisha.

Olivacc茅鈥檚 work as a concert and recital soloist has been widely recognized in performing such works as the Mozart, Brahms, Faur茅, and Rutter Requiem Masses, Bach鈥檚 St John Passion and  Magnificat Mendelssohn鈥檚 Elijah, Beethoven鈥檚 Ninth Symphony, Handel鈥檚 Messiah, and Gershwin鈥檚 Catfish Row. In April 2009, Olivacc茅 performed with the New York Pops under the baton of Steven Reineke in Carnegie Hall where she also performed her debut recital in October 2008, sponsored by the Netherlands American Trust. In June 2008, she made her international debut in recital at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Olivacc茅 is a frequent awardee at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Competition where she won the People鈥檚 Choice Award in 2011, advanced to the District Competition in 2010, and an encouragement award in 2009. She also took second place in the National Association for Negro Musicians Vocal Competition (2011).