“A superb, rich voice that is
capable of such a range of colors”
Overview
Monica has made several notable house debuts including San Francisco Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Oper Köln, and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. This season Monica returns to the Metropolitan Opera with a performance of 2nd niece in Peter Grimes and covers Sister Constance in Dialogues of the Carmelites. Monica is a Metropolitan National Council Audition Semi-Finalist and Sullivan Foundation Award winner.
About
Recognized for her endearing timbre and indelible warmth and beauty, Monica Dewey is a soprano from Atlanta, Georgia. She started her career with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in 2017 as Servilia in La Clemenza di Tito. Since then, she has made several notable house debuts, including the San Francisco Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, and Oper Köln, while performing additional recitals at Opera America, the Kerrytown Concert House, and Shryock Auditorium at Southern Illinois University.
In the 2022 - 2023 season, Monica returns to the Metropolitan Opera with a performance of 2nd niece in Peter Grimes and covers Sister Constance in Dialogues of the Carmelites.
In the 2021 - 2022 season, Monica made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as an offstage voice in Brett Dean’s Hamlet and was involved in several other productions at the MET, including Ariadne auf Naxos, Rigoletto, and Le Nozze di Figaro. Monica concluded the season with Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers at the Berkshire Opera Festival
In the 2020 - 2021 season, Monica was scheduled to make her stage debut at the Metropolitan Opera in the role of the Unborn in Die Frau Ohne Schatten. She was also scheduled to join the roster of the Chicago Lyric Opera in their production of George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence. As opera companies resumed their seasons in a post-COVID world, Monica joined Opera Theatre of St. Louis in the New Works, Bold Voices Lab as part of their 2021 Outdoor Festival Season followed by the International Meistersinger Akademie (IMA) in Neumarkt, Germany.
In the 2019 - 2020 season, Monica joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera in their productions of Le Nozze di Figaro and Agrippina. Previously scheduled engagements included a house debut with Intermountain Opera Bozeman to sing Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro.
In the past few seasons, Monica has been seen in an impressive variety of repertoire. In 2018, she made a house debut with Oper Köln as Second Niece in Peter Grimes and performed Alexandra in Regina at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis alongside operatic legends Susan Graham and Jim Morris. She has also championed works by Ricky Ian Gordon both on the operatic stage and in recital. At the Michigan Opera Theatre, she performed the role of Alice B. Toklas in 27 and was praised by Opera News for her “mastery of musical styles ranging from contemporary opera to musical theater and cabaret... Dewey’s endearing timbre burst with warmth.” In recital with Kathleen Kelly, she performed Gordon’s chamber piece Orpheus and Euridice, based on the death of Gordon’s long- time life partner. Other important debuts include Pousette in Manon with the San Francisco Opera, Gilda in Rigoletto with the Sacramento Philharmonic and return engagements to Michigan Opera Theatre as Cunegonde in Candide and the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro.
In 2017, Monica was awarded 1st Prize, Prize of the Sponsors, Prize of the Media, and Prize of the Jury at the 10th International Hilde Zadek Competition at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Her other honors include top prizes from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (National Semi-Finalist) and the Sullivan Foundation. Additional grants have been awarded by the Gerda Lissner Foundation, the American Prize, and the Georgina Joshi Foundation. Monica received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kentucky in Music and Arts Administration and a Master of Music from Indiana University. While at Indiana University, Monica was awarded the Georgina Joshi International Fellowship and worked as an Associate Instructor of Voice.
Monica is an advocate for women’s rights and a proud member of the LGBT+ community. Recent panel discussions include “Discovering Labor and Identity in Opera” with Sing for Solidarity and the Representation and Responsibility Panel at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, titled “#Timesup, #MeToo, & Women in Opera”. Monica lives in New York City with her partner, Synthia.
