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Emalie Savoy speaking with Music students in the Taylor Auditorium

It's always great when current students can meet former SUNY Schenectady students and alumni and learn about their successes, especially when she's an opera singer who has performed at the Metropolitan Opera and at Carnegie Hall! Soprano Emalie Savoy, who was a Performing Arts: Music major at the College in 2003-2004, visited campus, inspiring current School of Music students and discussing her remarkable career.

Emalie has performed around the world and made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Kristina in Leoš Janáček’s The Makropulos Case. In 2015, she was Awarded First Prize in Voice at the prestigious ARD International Music Competition in Munich, Germany, and GENUIN Classics recently released her debut album, Emalie Savoy: A Portrait, to universal acclaim.

She was in the Capital Region because she will be the featured soloist, performing with Musicians of Ma'alwyck on Saturday evening during their Schaltjahr Ball in Albany. She took time out from rehearsing and preparing for a Master Class she will be conducting at Skidmore College, to speak with students in the Taylor Auditorium. She even treated them to a brief performance, accompanied by Mark Evans, Assistant Professor (pictured). It's the first time she has been back to campus to share her insights with students. "At this point, I've had the chance to perform in so many amazing places and such opportunities," Emalie said. "The things I have learned and the trial and error, I just hope it can be helpful to students to show them that it can be done. Belief is so precious. If you never put yourself out there, it won't happen."

After SUNY Schenectady, Emalie completed The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, and earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Vocal Performance from The Juilliard School. She noted that she felt confident auditioning for and then entering Juilliard. "All of the course work here prepared me for my auditions, from well-rounded musicianship to the ability to learn music at a very fast rate."

Lauded as “remarkable” by The New York Times, Emalie is sought-after on the operatic as well as concert and recital stage. Notable appearances in addition to her Metropolitan Opera debut include performances alongside cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble; her Carnegie Hall debut as soprano soloist in Mendelssohn’s Paulus with the Oratorio Society of New York, conducted by Kent Tritle; performances with the New York Philharmonic as Queen Isabella in de Falla’s Atlántida; guest soloist with the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and the Musical Olympus Foundation in St. Petersburg, Russia, at the Grand Hall of the D.D. Shostakovich St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonia, and her performance of Contessa Ceprano in Verdi’s Rigoletto with The Metropolitan Opera HD Live series, released on DVD by Deutsche Grammophon. 

In addition to her solo career, she maintains a teaching and coaching studio, and is guest voice and music instructor at Our Lady of Loreto Convent in Charlotte, N.C. 

Emalie Savoy performing on stage