Megan Berti is an active young mezzo-soprano on operatic and oratorio stages throughout the US. She returns this season to the Houston Grand Opera stage as a Bridesmaid in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, where she most recently performed Pepita in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliet. She has previously been featured on their stage as an immigrant in Tarik O’Regan’s The Phoenix and Female Emilia in Carlisle Floyd’s The Prince of Players. Megan looks forward to performing the Houston premiere of Stephen Bachicha’s “Close your eyes” in February 2023 with the Carya Quartet. Her voice can be heard on 2 recent recordings newly released by Navona Records: Kassandra by Anthony Brandt and The Leader by Karim Al-Zand; she premiered both operas with Opera in the Heights in collaboration with MUSIQA in February 2020. A champion of new opera, Megan recently returned to MUSIQA to debut Laura Schwendinger’s Cabaret of Shadows and was contracted by Concertia for Amanda Martikainen’s A Voice of One’s Own. Ms Berti made her debut with Miami Lyric Opera in 2019 with a highly acclaimed portrayal of Angelina in La Cenerentola (Rossini). Earlier that year, she performed Bernard Rands’ Canti Lunatici with Hear&Now, returned to Cantare con Vivo for Verdi’s Requiem, and portrayed Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti (Bernstein) with Painted Sky Opera. Recent performing highlights include Hansel in the Rec Room’s Hansel and Gretel (Humperdinck), Isabella in L’Italiana in Algeri (Rossini) and Concepción in L’Heure Espagnole (Ravel) with Opera-tivo, and Prince Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus (J. Strauss) with Opera in the Heights.

A favorite at Opera in the Heights, Megan has performed the title roles in La Cenerentola and Hänsel und Gretel, Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto (Verdi), and Flora in La traviata (Verdi). She has also performed with Solo Opera in California as the Sandman and Hansel cover, and with the Lakes Area Music Festival in Minnesota in her first appearance as Angelina in La Cenerentola. Ms. Berti often appears as a soloist with the BCC&O in California and on their European tours in such works as Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor, Dvořák’s Requiem, and Vivaldi’s Gloria. She has also sung Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with Oakland’s Cantare con Vivo, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with Lee College, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle with Rochester’s Gregory Kunde Chorale, Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Eastman Chorale and Concordia University of Texas, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Pasadena Pops Orchestra. Megan was a regular performer with Houston Grand Opera’s Opera to Go! 2014-2017, touring schools and community centers throughout the greater Houston area as Hansel, Rosina in The Barber of Seville (Rossini), The Queen, Hilde, and the Dragon in The Princess and the Pea (Warwick), Annamaria in Puffed-Up Prima Donna (Buller), Annamaria and Aquilia in Pastry Prince (Buller), the Mother and Nightingale in Rapunzel (Warwick), and the title character in Strega Nona (Warwick).

Ms. Berti completed her Performance Certificate in 2013 at the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. While at Moores, Megan sang four recitals as well as Maddalena in Rigoletto (Verdi), Vava in Moscow, Cheryomushki (Shostakovich), Magali in Salsipuedes (Catán), Annina in Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss), the title role of Amelia (Hagen), and Mistress Quickly in Falstaff (Verdi). She received her Master’s degree at the Eastman School of Music where she played Anne in To Hell and Back (Heggie) and the complete role of Dryade in a scene from Ariadne auf Naxos (Strauss). During her undergraduate studies at the Cole Conservatory at California State University Long Beach, Ms. Berti performed Sesto in La clemenza di Tito (Mozart) and La Messaggiera in L’Orfeo (Monteverdi). She was also a soloist in Verdi’s Requiem and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.

Megan has participated in the summer programs Opera in the Ozarks, Le Chiavi di Bel Canto, SongFest, the International Lyric Academy in Italy, and SummerSong where she performed the abridged roles of Orpheus in Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice, Sextus in Handel’s Julius Cesar, and Otho in Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea. Ms. Berti can be heard performing the premiere of Benjamin Boretz’s piece “The Memory of All That: a Holy Sonnet of John Donne for Milton Babbitt” published by Open Space. She earned Honorable Mention at the 2020 Young Texas Artists Music Competition and has received scholarship awards from The National Federation of Music Clubs, the Presser award, the Dramatic Allied Arts Guild, and the Fine Arts Aliates. Megan is also a member of the SAI music fraternity and the Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society.