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Ashley Milanese

About this Artist

Lauded for her “soaring lyric soprano capable of heart-stopping soft effects” (Philadelphia Magazine), Italian-American vocalist Ashley Milanese is quickly emerging as an exciting young presence in the operatic world. In the 2022/23 season, she makes her New Orleans Opera debut as the Sandman in Hansel und Gretel and joins On Site Opera as Giorgetta in Il tabarro.

Milanese’s most recent North American performances included Frasquita in Carmen, First Lady in Die Zauberflöte, and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Philadelphia, where she was an emerging artist from 2016 to 2018. Additional operatic credits include Dede (A Quiet Place), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Italian Singer (Capriccio), Manon (Manon), Yvette (La rondine), Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), and Soeur Constance (Dialogues des Carmelites).

Passionate about contemporary music, Milanese has collaborated with many composers including Kevin Puts, Rene Orth, Tobias Picker, David T. Little, Daniel Schnyder, and Nico Muhly. She has had the opportunity to cover lead roles in multiple operatic premieres including Lola in David Hertzberg’s The Wake World and Bess McNeil in Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves. Milanese was also the original Chan Parker and Aveline Mortimer in Opera Philadelphia’s workshops of Charlie Parker’s Yardbird and Elizabeth Cree, respectively.

Symphonic performances include operatic selections with the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic/Wolf Trap Opera and Mainline Symphony Orchestra, Fauré’s Requiem with Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Allentown Symphony Orchestra.

Milanese participated in summer festivals and programs including Wolf Trap Opera Studio and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. She was named a winner of the 2018 Opera Foundation competition, receiving the Amber Capitol Scholarship and the residency with Teatro Regio Torino. She has also received awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions including being named a winner in the 2017 New Orleans and Puerto Rico district finals.

Milanese studied at the Juilliard School and Curtis Institute of Music where she completed her Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and her Artistic Diploma.