Soprano Abigail Rethwisch stepped in on less than two hours’ notice in March 2017 to sing the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor for the entire run of Utah Opera’s production, thrilling audiences with “her command of bel canto technique and riveting dramatic talent” (Opera News).

 

In the 2021-22 season, Ms. Rethwisch returned to the Columbus Symphony for her role debut as Musetta in La bohème, returned to Dallas Opera and Utah Opera as the Controller in Flight, made her debut with Cape Symphony in a special anniversary concert and returned for their performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and joined the roster of The Metropolitan Opera to cover Meretaten in Akhnaten. During the 2022-23 season, Ms. Rethwisch returns to the Metropolitan Opera as the Papagena cover in their new production of Die Zauberflöte, performs operatic highlights in a concert with Cedar Rapids Opera and returns to Columbus Symphony as the soprano soloist in Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass.

 

In 2020-2021, Ms. Rethwisch was scheduled to sing as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra (canceled due to COVID19). In the winter of 2021, Ms. Rethwisch returned to Utah Opera to perform in Light on the Horizon, an evening of opera excerpts after being slated to perform the Controller in their production of Flight (COVID19) and in the spring of 2021, she was set to join the Columbus Symphony as Violetta for their performance of Act II of La traviata. (COVID19).

 

During the 2019-2020 season, Ms. Rethwisch made her Dallas Opera debut singing Papagena and covering Der Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte and returned to Utah Opera in the role of Anna Sørensen in the Pulitzer Prize winning Silent Night. She also rejoined the Columbus Symphony as the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah, made her Washington Concert Opera debut singing excerpts from Offenbach operas, joined Fort Worth Opera performing the roles of Drusilla/Valetto in a workshop of Jim Lowe’s arrangement of The Coronation of Poppea, and was engaged to cover the roles of Musetta in La bohème and Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus (COVID19).  

 

During the 2018-2019 season, Ms. Rethwisch made her company and role debut with Intermountain Opera Bozeman as Mabel in Pirates of Penzance. She also joined Opera Southwest as a guest soloist in their New Year's Eve Gala and returned to Utah Opera to sing First Lady in Die Zauberflöte. In the 2017-18 season she sang Adele in Die Fledermaus, and Nella in Gianni Schicchi, both with Utah Opera, and joined the Utah Symphony as a soloist on their Great American Road Trip. Past Utah Opera appearances include Carmen, The Long Walk, Man of La Mancha, and Handel’s Messiah. In the 2017-2018 season Ms. Rethwisch also sang Der Königin der Nacht with CoOperative in Princeton, NJ and joined the Columbus Symphony for Brahms’ Requiem and Saariaho’s Leino Songs.

 

Ms. Rethwisch was a member of the prestigious Santa Fe Opera’s Apprentice Artist program in 2017 and 2018 where she covered Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos and performed scenes from La rondine and L’elisir d’amore (Adina). Ms. Rethwisch has spent previous summers as an apprentice with Chautauqua Opera where she sang the role of Annina and covered Violetta in La traviata, Des Moines Metro Opera covering Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and the CoOperative Program. During the 2015-2016 season, she was a Resident Artist with Tri-Cities Opera where she appeared in performances of Iolanta, The Telephone, and Sweeney Todd.

 

Gaining significant recognition in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Ms. Rethwisch has been chosen as a regional finalist three times, most recently winning the Iowa district auditions in 2019. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Simpson College and a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Florida State University.