Kelley Nassief

If the angels in heaven really sing, please let them do it like Kelley Nassief. Her voice combines the best of two worlds: It has bel canto size, warmth and height, and yet is svelte, with a youthful sparkle. – So wrote the Leipziger Volkszeitung when Nassief sang Elijah with the Gewandhausorchester and Kurt Masur on the occasion of the sesquicentennial of Mendelssohn’s death.

Nassief’s critically acclaimed and exquisite performances on symphonic stages across the globe have established her as one of the world’s leading concert and recital artists. She has performed with such conductors as Kurt Masur, Michael Tilson Thomas, Charles Dutois, Julius Rudel, Marin Alsop, Joann Falletta, Seiji Ozawa, Hans Vonk, Neemi Jarvi, Carlos Prieto, Yeol Levi, and Miguel Harth Bedoya. Some of the orchestras Nassief has performed with include: The New York Philharmonic, The National Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, L’Orchestre de Paris, Dresden Philharmonic, Berlin Konzerthaus, The Royal Flemish Philharminic, Gewandhaus Orchestra, Polish National Symphony, the Orchestra of Milan Giuseppi Verdi, Chicago Symphony, L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra, Philadelphia Symphony, Tanglewood, the Sao Paulo Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Costa Rica, Mexico City Symphony Orchestra, and Houston Symphony. Nassief continues to perform in concert and recital venues internationally.

As an opera singer, Nassief has performed Mimi in La Boheme with the Glimmerglass Opera, Arizona Opera, Atlanta Opera, and Fargo Moorhead, Opera, Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro with Portland Opera, Chautauqua Opera Company, Arizona Opera, Atlanta Opera, Berkshire Opera, Mississippi Opera, Fargo Moorhead Opera, First Lady in Die Zauberflote at Philadelphia Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Liu in Turandot with the Eugene Opera, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with the Atlanta Opera Company, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with the Eugene Opera, Michaela in Carmen with the Eugene Opera, and the Minnesota Opera.

Nassief is a 2001 winner of the Sullivan Foundation Grant, a 1996 Laureate of the Leonard Bernstein Jerusalem International Oratorio and Song Competition, a 1997 winner of a Richard Tucker Career Grant, and a winner of the 1995 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

A teacher for more than 25 years, Nassief is a vocal pedagogue featured in master classes and clinics throughout the country. She has been an adjudicator for several competitions including National NATS. Nassief has a private studio in NYC and is a professor at Adelphi University in Garden City, NY where she teaches Applied Voice, Vocal Methods for Music Educators, Song Literature, and Diction for Singers.

As a champion of music education, Nassief has a deep commitment to imparting a love of music and a passion for the text to children and adults of all ages through performance, lessons, master classes and clinics. She is a member of NATS, NYSTA, NAfME, NYSSMA, CMS, and AGMA. She holds a Masters Degree in Vocal Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College, and a Bachelors of Music from Portland State University.