Meghan DeWald Althouse

Soprano Meghan DeWald Althouse most recently performed the role of Iris in Pittsburgh Opera's acclaimed production of Semele in May 2021. She also earned accolades for her performance of Danae in Die Liebe der Danae by Richard Strauss with Pittsburgh Festival Opera, where she "dazzled the eye and poured out glorious tone quite thrillingly." Other recent highlights include singing at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, where she performed in Luciano Berio's Coro under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle as a member of the prestigious Lucerne Festival Academy. As part of the Lucerne Festival, she was also honored to perform Unsuk Chin's snagS&Snarls, a piece for solo soprano and ensemble. Other favorite roles include Christine in Strauss' Intermezzo, Marguerite in Faust, Contessa Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Fiordiligi in Cosí fan tutte, Magda in La Rondine, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, Margarita Xirgu in Ainadamar, and Juliette in Roméo et Juliette.

Favorite concert performances include the Britten War Requiem, Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras no. 5, Israelite Woman in Handel's Samson, Mozart's Requiem, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, Bach's Magnificat, and Handel's Ode to St. Cecelia. She has enjoyed performances as a soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, North Carolina Master Chorale, Butler County Symphony Orchestra, Princeton Pro Musica, Pittsburgh Camerata and Chatham Baroque, Bloomington Chamber Singers, and Resonance Works. A champion of new music, she has enjoyed collaborations with composers Lori Laitman, Unsuk Chin, Andrea Clearfield, Gabriela Ortiz, David Ward-Steinman, and Matthew Peterson. She has enjoyed performing contemporary works with the GRAMMY Award-winning professional choral ensemble The Crossing in Philadelphia, performing with them for their debuts at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

She has been the recipient of several awards including Second Place Regional Finalist (Upper Midwest Region) and is a three-time District Winner (Florida and Wisconsin) in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She is also the first-place winner of the Opera San Nicola Competition and the Lansing Matinee Musicale. DeWald Althouse earned her Doctor of Music in Vocal Performance and Literature at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, where she also earned her Master of Music degree. She graduated magna cum laude from the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. She currently resides in Pittsburgh with her husband and children, where she currently serves as Voice Area Coordinator for the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University. In addition to singing, she loves practicing and teaching yoga as a 200-hr certified instructor.

D.M., Indiana University
M.M., Indiana University
B.M., Northwestern University