About Us
OPERAGASM
You are now experiencing a full-fledged Operagasm!
Welcome to Operagasm.com, a substantive, cutting edge national perspective on current events, news, reviews, interviews, fashion and editorial contributions regarding opera and classical music.
We have known each other since 2003, when we attended Metropolitan State College of Denver pursuing our bachelor degrees in music. Although we were classmates, our life-long friendship wasn’t cemented until a cathedral choir trip through Germany and Austria in 2006; chalk it up to one of the benefits of endless hours on a tour bus rumbling through Bavaria.
Where will our lives take us from here? We may have international fame on the opera stage, or have a professorship in the hallowed halls of the music conservatory, or maybe have a starring role in Bravo’s Real Housewives of Gold-digger County. Who knows, but one thing is certain… we will have opinions! And we look forward to sharing our opinions, and all the latest in the opera world with you on Operagasm.com.
CHRISTIE CONNOLLEY
“The best performance is that of Christie Connolley… Connolley’s singing is not only tonally poignant but also powerful and very clear. Her adaptation of Dame Quickly brings out the rumor-mongering, clever, and capricious traits of the character.” Mezzo-soprano, Christie Connolley garnered this praise for her portrayal of Dame Quickly in Verdi’s Falstaff. Christie most recently was an Apprentice Artist with Opera Fort Collins from 2007-2010 where she performed Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria Rusticana opposite Cynthia Lawrence and Charles Taylor. Other roles include Lucretia in Rape of Lucretia, Anna Maurrant in Street Scene, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, and Desiree in A Little Night Music. Christie made her international operatic debut in 2009, singing Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte at the Seoul International Opera Festival in Korea.
Christie holds a Master of Music from Colorado State University where she was the recipient of the Colorado State University Fellowship, a Graduate Teaching Assistantship and the Opera Pronto Scholarship. Christie holds a Bachelor of Music from Metropolitan State College of Denver where she was the recipient of the Beverly Fernald Scholarship, Denver Lyric Opera Guild Scholarship and Metro’s Music Talent Award.
In addition to singing, Christie is the co-founder and director of Operagasm.com, a blogazine that presents a substantive, cutting edge national perspective on current events, news, reviews, interviews, fashion and editorial contributions regarding opera and classical music. Christie’s other interests include international travel, politics, art and fashion.
MELISSA WIMBISH
“…simply incredible…..the highlight of the entire evening…” were the quotes from the Boulder, Colorado’s Daily Camera when describing the recent performances of Melissa Wimbish, soprano, in her role as Cunegonde with the University of Colorado’s production of Candide. More recently, she made her international debut as the “Queen of the Night” at the first Seoul International Opera Festival in Seoul, Korea in the summer of 2009.
Throughout her studies, she was involved in several productions including Hänsel und Gretel, The Secret Garden, Amahl and the Night Visitors, culminating in the solo opera by Poulenc, La Voix humaine. Equally at home in concert work and chamber music, she was also the featured soloist with the Metropolitan State College of Denver Symphony Orchestra in Mozart’s concert aria “Vorrei spiegarvi, O Dio!” as well as in Orff’s Carmina Burana. Ms. Wimbish was invited to be the soprano in the world premiere of “Venus Transiens: Trilogy for Harp, Cello and Soprano,” by composer Fran Pierson.
In performance, she won second prize in the German art Song division of the Graduate Vocal Arts Competition, and was a semi-finalist in the international ‘Competizione dell’Opera’ in Dresden, Germany.
Ms. Wimbish has been noted as much for her research and writing skills as she is for her performing. Her scholarly recognition has been in the form of awards and prizes such as the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Scholarship, L. Rudolph Quinn Scholarship, Metro Scholars Award, Dante Alighieri Music Scholarship, and the Excellence in Musicology Award, which was awarded for her essay and public presentation on Béla Bartòk’s opera, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle.
Ms. Wimbish received her Master of Music in vocal performance from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She received her Bachelor of Music in voice from the Metropolitan State College of Denver. Currently, she is pursuing her Graduate Performance Diploma at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, where she was recently cast as the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte as well as Ida in Die Fledermaus.
When she is not singing or rehearsing, Ms. Wimbish likes to practice the Brazilian martial art of Capoeira, play with her dog Scarlett and experiment with vegetarian cooking.
Learn more about Melissa at www.melissawimbish.com.
