A native to New York, mezzo soprano Yiselle S. Blum received a B.A. in Music with a minor in Environmental Science from Wagner College. She completed her M.M. in Voice Performance and Opera at Mannes College The New School for Music, where she studied with Ruth Falcon, Vlad Iftinca, and Beth Roberts. Yiselle has also studied acting and improvisational comedy at the Sedgwick Russel Acting School, Meisner in Music, the Peoples’ Improv Theater, and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. Educational credits include Maddalena (Il viaggio a Reims), Jo (Little Women), Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and Romeo (I Capuleti ed I Montecchi). Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel), Dorabella (Cosi fan tutte), Charlotte (Werther), Mother (The Consul), and Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro). Professional operatic credits include: Orlovsky (die Fledermaus), Zweite Dame (die Zauberflöte), Zanetto (Zanetto), Marianne (Clara, Victoria Bond), Nancy (Albert Herring), Blaise (L’Arbre enchantée), Maman/Tasse Chinoise/Libelulle (L’enfant et les sortileges), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Hänsel (Hänsel and Gretel), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Lady Pamela, (Fra Diavolo), and Lola (Cavalleria rusticana).
In addition to opera, Yiselle has quite a passion for oratorio and song repertoire. Most recently she celebrated a success in the featured quartet of Mendelssohn’s Elijah and as the alto soloist in Bach’s Magnificat in D, both with The Riverside Church. Harkening back to her conservatory years, Ms. Blum was featured in concert with the Mannes College Collaborative Pianists in Schubert’s Die Winterreise, The Mannes American Composer’s Ensemble in Derek Bermel’s Canzonas Americanas, and with the Garden State Philharmonic as the alto soloist in Mozart’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah. She made her Fairfield County Chorale debut as well as her Orchestra Nepal debut as the alto soloist in both company’s performances of Mozart’s Requiem in 2015. Other recent favorite engagements include Bernstein's Kaddish (American Symphony Orchestra), Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (Mark Morris Dance Group), Saint-Seäns's Requiem (The Astoria Choir and Orchestra), and Bach's Christmas Cantata BWV 142 (Church of the Incarnation).
Recently, Ms. Blum has been searching for dynamic new ways to bring the stories of musical drama and comedy in the classical tradition to broader audiences. She is currently in the seed funding round of starting her own arts organization, which will aim to provide salaried positions to choral singers in New York City. The organization will offer a season of standard masterwork repertoire, interspersed with lesser-known multidisciplinary works, as well as both a student outreach component and consumer-facing luxury boutique performance product. Stay tuned!