Carnegie Mellon University

School of Music

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CMU Arch

May 14, 2010

ALUMNA SELECTED TO PERFORM AT KENNEDY CENTER’S CONSERVATORY PROJECT

Alumna Amanda Russo, now a student at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, was selected to perform as part of the Kennedy Center’s Conservatory Project. The project showcases leading conservatory students from across the United States. At Carnegie Mellon, Russo studied with Douglas Ahlstedt.

Mezzo-soprano Amanda Russo is currently pursuing her master of music degree at the Jacobs School of Music. She has performed the roles of Marcellina in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, the title role in Massenet’s Cendrillon and Isabella in L’Italiana in Algeri with IU Opera Theater. In the summer of 2008, she performed the role of La Padrona in the revival of the one-act pastiche opera Il Pesceballo, a summer collaborative project with the Jacobs School of Music and the IU Folklore and Ethnomusicology department. A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., Russo received her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance with a minor in German from Carnegie Mellon University. While studying at Carnegie Mellon, she appeared as Nancy in Albert Herring, Ruggiero in Alcina, Cassie in A Chorus Line and Charlotte in A Little Night Music. She was also a featured soloist in Copland’s In the Beginning and Corgliano’s Fern Hill. Last summer, Russo performed in Haydn’s Creation as Eve with the Robert Page Festival Singers at the Virginia Arts Festival. Following her performance at the Virginia Arts Festival, Russo covered the role of Petra in A Little Night Music as a studio artist with Central City Opera. While there, she was the recipient of the Central City Opera Guild’s McGlone Studio Artist Award.