Baton Rouge-raised, New Orleans-born opera singer Lisette Oropesa is in the middle of preparing to star in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Opéra National de Paris.
But in the past year, she’s also earned both the Richard Tucker Award and the Beverly Sills Award, two of opera’s top prizes. Her return to the Metropolitan Opera to star in Massenet’s Manon was applauded by The New York Times; critic Joshua Barone says Oropesa “slips into the title role as if it were custom couture.”
InRegister’s latest cover story takes a look at Oropesa’s rise to the top of the opera world, and how she has stayed true to her Louisiana roots all the way.
Oropesa did not start out as a singer. When she graduated from Woodlawn High School, Oropesa was in the All-State Band, and when it came time to audition for LSU’s School of Music, she intended to take flute there, too. But her mother suggested she audition for voice because opera combined all the things she loved: music, languages, acting and being on stage.
At LSU, as she started to focus solely on voice, Oropesa started winning small competitions, which opened up opportunities and began to reveal a new path for her future.
She moved to New York to enter the Metropolitan’s program, landing her first major role there at 22 as Susanna in Le Nozzi de Figaro. But that was only the beginning.
