Student Recital
Zoe Chessa, soprano
Program:
Thomas Arne Nine Songs of Shakespeare
Franz Schubert Shakespeare Settings
Hector Berlioz La mort d’Ophelie, Op. 18
Richard Strauss Drei Lieder der Ophelia, Op. 67
Amy Beach Three Shakespeare Songs, Op. 37
John Dowland Come again, sweet love
Zoë Chessa is a soprano originally from El Paso, Texas. She is a senior studying under Sari Gruber, majoring in vocal performance with minors in German and Linguistics. Zoë first made her professional debut with Pittsburgh Opera as the First Spirit/The Magic Flute (2021). Zoë’s recent roles at CMU include Miss Sweetsong/The Impresario by Mozart (2023) and Cleonilla/Ottone in Villa by Vivaldi (2024) and The Maiden/Der Kaiser von Atlantis (2023), for which she also served as assistant director. Other roles include Clarice/Die Welt auf dem Monde (2022) with the Middlebury College German for Singers program, Lepido/Silla at Chicago Summer Opera (2021). She is a 3x recipient of the Max Kade scholarship, which has funded her language studies abroad in Freiburg and Berlin. She is a Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society Member in the Theta Xi Division, and received 2nd Place in the undergraduate category of the 2023 CMU Philharmonic Soloist Competition. Zoë is a recipient of the Harry G. Archer Philharmonic Soloist Award as the Highest Scoring Junior, as well as the Derdeyn Scholarship in Voice. Other summer programs include Classic Lyric Arts in the Berkshires (2023), Crittenden Opera in Bethesda, Maryland (2017), and the Honors Performance Series in Sydney, Australia (2019).
Cost: Free and open to the public; No tickets required.