Melanie Henley Heyn, Soprano

Biography

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Melanie Henley Heyn began singing at an early age.  After making her debut at the age of ten as Amahl in Amahl and the Night Visitors, she continued on to play a Knabe in Die Zauberflöte as well as the ingénue parts of Rose in Kurt Weill’s Street Scene, The Girl in Berstein’s Trouble in Tahitiand Despina in Così fan tutte. She attended the Manhattan School of Music’s Prep. Division for six years before moving to Southern California to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree at the University of Southern California.  While at USC, she performed the roles of Nella in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Ann Putnam in Robert Ward’s The Crucible, Clorinda in Rossini’s La Cenerentola and Mother Marie in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites.

An avid singer of concert music, Ms. Henley Heyn has performed with the Pacific Chorale, the Welsh Choir of Southern California and the USC Thornton Symphony.  Her repertoire includes Mahler’s 4th Symphony, Mendelssohn’s Paulus, and Vaughan-Williams’ Benedicite.  Also known to television audiences, she can be heard on the soundtrack of the television series Battlestar Galactica. Ms. Henley Heyn has twice been invited to sing with the Simón Bolîvar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela in Caracas, appearing as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and as the Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro.

Melanie Henley Heyn was a prize winner at the International Hilde Zadek Singing Competition, where she received special recognition as a young dramatic soprano to watch. A finalist in the Schubert and Modern Music Competition in Graz, Austria, she especially enjoys the Lied repertoire of the early 20th Century, performing Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire to general acclaim at the Musikverein in Vienna. Also a favorite of contemporary composers, Melanie has premiered pieces by Bear McCreary, Shannon Mack, Eva Conley Kendrick and Sharon Farber, among others.  Together with pianist Deirdre Brenner, she has created a recital of Viennese composers who were forced out of Europe and settled in Hollywood during World War II.

Melanie studied Oper under Michael Pinkerton, Lied und Oratorium under Carolyn Hague and Birgid Steinberger and Sologesang under Uta Schwabe at the Konservatorium Wien, Privat Universität in Vienna, where she appeared as Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Cosí fan tutte, Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro and in the title role of Suor Angelica.