Performer Biography

Alexis Reed

Soprano Alexis Reed is a fifth-year dual-degree student at Oberlin College and Conservatory, where she pursues a B.Mus. in Voice Performance under the tutelage of Marlene Rosen and a B.A. in Biology.

Reed has been praised by Cleveland Classical for singing with “technical polish”, “dramatic conviction” and “soaring vocally” in operatic performances, as well for demonstrating “her gift for acting”. Recently, Reed was seen onstage as Ma Zegner in the new opera Proving Up, for which she collaborated with composer Missy Mazzoli. No stranger to working with composers on contemporary opera, Reed also appeared in the second-ever production of Du Yun’s Angel’s Bone in 2018. Other Oberlin Opera Theater credits include Sœur Claire in Dialogues des Carmélites, Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw, and chorus in Massenet’s Cendrillon. Reed has also performed in scenes from La traviata as Violetta, Don Giovannias Donna Elvira and Zerlina,I Capuleti e i Montecchi as Giulietta, and Il matrimonio segreto as Carolina. In concerts with the Oberlin Sinfonietta, she has performed Berio’s Folk Songs and debuted Soomin Kim’s Four Love Songs.

Outside of Oberlin, Reed recently made her professional operatic debut as Annina in Cleveland Opera Theater’s La traviata in spring 2019. She has performed abroad and overseas as Nannetta (cover) in Verdi’sFalstaff at the International Summer Opera Festival of Morelia, Lisette in Puccini’s La rondine at Oberlin in Italy, and Yum-Yum in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado at Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, as well as in various cabarets, recitals, galas, and scene programs.

Off of the operatic stage, Reed has appeared in recitals with Stars in the Classics, a non-profit organization committed to providing intimate performance opportunities for emerging, world-class musicians in Northeast Ohio and beyond, and in masterclasses with renowned musicians Marilyn Horne, Gerald Finley, Michelle Johnson, and Delores Ziegler. She received the Arden J. Yockey Scholarship at the 2019 Tuesday Musical Scholarship Competition and now participates in their concert series as well.

Reed’s next engagement is performing the role of Helena in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream during her final year with Oberlin Opera Theater.