WBG February Monthly Meeting via Zoom with Boston Lyric Opera Mezzo-soprano Nina Yoshida Nelsen & Senior Director of Public Engagement Sara O'Brien

Go behind the scenes at Boston Lyric Opera, New England’s oldest and longest-lived opera company in a discussion featuring BLO Artistic Advisor Nina Yoshida Nelsen and Sara O’Brien, Senior Director of Public Engagement. Get an inside look at how this organization innovated during the pandemic and continues flourishing on and off the stage today while learning more about how the art form of opera thrives today.

Nina Yoshida Nelson

Mezzo-soprano Nina Yoshida Nelsen made her Boston Lyric Opera debut as Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria Rusticana and was recently appointed Artistic Advisor for BLO. Recent engagements include her Bard Opera debut singing Mother Chen in Huang Ruo’s An American Soldier, a double bill at Opera Santa Barbara of El Amor Brujo and Frugola in Il Tabarro, and her Chicago Opera Theater debut singing Queen Sophine in Mark Adamo’s Becoming Santa Claus. Additionally, she made her Washington National Opera debut as Phoung Tran in the world premiere of The Rift, joined Santa Fe Opera for performances of Huang Ruo’s Angel Island and performed as the alto soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Rhode Island Philharmonic. This season, Ms. Nelsen reprises the role of Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with Atlanta Opera and New Orleans Opera, perform selections of orchestrated lieder by Alma Mahler with the Toledo Symphony, and joins her home company of Opera Santa Barbara as Mama in An American Dream and Fricka in the Dove reduction of Die Walküre. Ms. Nelsen has won first prize in the Performing Arts Foundation Vocal Competition, the Profant Foundation Vocal Competition and the Santa Barbara Foundation Vocal Competition, as well as a National Semi-Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and National Finalist in the Loren L. Zachary Society Vocal Competition and the Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition. Ms. Nelsen is a graduate of Boston University and the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.

Sara O'Brien

Sara O’Brien joined Boston Lyric Opera in 2016 and currently serves as Senior Director of Public Engagement, leading marketing & PR, sales, public programming, and community engagement and education initiatives. During her tenure at BLO, she has overseen the launch of operabox.tv, BLO’s digital opera platform, managed the Company’s return to live audiences following the onset of the pandemic, and developed new programming throughout her time with the Company. Prior to joining BLO, Ms. O’Brien worked in administration for Rockport Capital Partners and Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. She also helped establish and lead Boston Opera Collaborative, a company committed to providing singers with opportunities both for artistic growth and development of entrepreneurial skills in the operation and management of the company. Ms. O’Brien is a graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Boston Conservatory at Berklee.