Alissa Plenzler, Soprano, joins the SBLO for her first season.  Originally from South Bend, she recently returned to be appointed as an Adjunct Professor of Music at Holy Cross College in Notre Dame, IN.  She received her Bachelor of Music degree in 2016 from the University of Dayton, and just finished her Master of Music degree in May 2018 at Bowling Green State University.  

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Plenzler has been seen previously as Casilda (The Gondoliers), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), and Carmen Ghia (Peter Schikele's The Stoned Guest).  During her tenure at Bowling Green State University, she was a featured singer in New Music MicroOperas composed by resident graduate composers.  She has also sung in both the Toledo and Dayton Opera choruses for Bizet's The Pearl Fishers.

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She has traveled to Arezzo, Italy and Kamuela, Hawaii for young artist programs and has participated in master classes with such names as Jake Heggie, Dawn Upshaw, Angela Renée Simpson, and the great African-American tenor George Shirley.  When she is not singing or teaching, she can be found researching and working with African-American composed music, her specialization.  She is a member of the African American Art Song Alliance.