Lauded for her “soaring lyric soprano capable of heart-stopping soft effects” (Philadelphia Magazine), Italian-American soprano Ashley Milanese is quickly emerging as an exciting presence in the operatic world.

This season, Ms. Milanese appears in the Bel Canto Concert Series at The Bascom in Highlands, North Carolina, makes her role debut as Micaëla in La tragédie de Carmen with New Orleans Opera, and performs a program of Verdi with orchestra at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. She then reprises Giorgetta in Puccini’s Il tabarro with Amarillo Opera.

Most recently, Ms. Milanese made her Opera Southwest debut as Elcia in Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto, where Opera News praised her “blazing Italianate intensity.” Other recent engagements include Serpina in La serva padrona with the Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra, her Opera San Antonio debut as Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte, and a return to Sarasota Opera as Mimì in La bohème, a role in which she earned praise for her “luscious voice, velvet with impeccable diction” (Houston Press).

Ms. Milanese covered the role of Gilda in Rigoletto with the Metropolitan Opera and returned to Sarasota Opera as Nedda in Pagliacci. She made her Sarasota Opera debut in the title role of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, where Opera Magazine praised her Mad Scene as “a coloratura tour de force that had the audience hanging on every decorative note.”

Other recent appearances include the Soprano Soloist in Britten’s War Requiem at Walt Disney Concert Hall with the LA Phil and National Children’s Chorus of the USA, and Giorgetta in Il tabarro with On Site Opera. She also joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera, where she made her debut as Pit Singer (Soprano 2) in Brett Dean’s Hamlet.

Ms. Milanese was notably part of Komische Oper Berlin’s touring production of Barrie Kosky’s Die Zauberflöte, singing Erste Dame at the Perth Festival, Adelaide Festival, Auckland Festival, and Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. She enjoys a long-standing relationship with Teatro Regio Torino, where she has appeared as Lisa in La sonnambula, Ines in Il trovatore, the High Priestess in Aida, Giannetta in L’elisir d’amore, and Annina in La traviata, and performed Adina in L’elisir d’amore as part of the company’s Piccolo Regio series. She also toured with the company in Henning Brockhaus’ production of La traviata, making her Ljubljana Festival debut.

Her North American performances include Frasquita in Carmen, Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte, and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro as an emerging artist with Opera Philadelphia. Additional operatic credits include Dede (A Quiet Place), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Eine italienische Sängerin (Capriccio), Manon (Manon), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Sophie (Werther), and Soeur Constance (Dialogues des Carmélites).

Ms. Milanese has collaborated with composers including Kevin Puts, René Orth, Tobias Picker, David T. Little, Daniel Schnyder, Nico Muhly, David Hertzberg, and Missy Mazzoli. She covered leading roles in the premieres of Lola in The Wake World with Opera Philadelphia and Bess McNeil in Breaking the Waves with Opera Philadelphia and the Beth Morrison Projects PROTOTYPE Festival. Symphonic appearances include performances with the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic/Wolf Trap Opera, Main Line Symphony Orchestra, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra in Fauré’s Requiem, and Allentown Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2.

Ms. Milanese participated in Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in 2015 and the Wolf Trap Opera Studio in 2017. She was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition New Orleans and Puerto Rico Districts in both 2017 and 2018 and received the 2018 Opera Foundation Award, including the Amber Capital Scholarship and a residency with Teatro Regio Torino. She studied at The Juilliard School and Curtis Institute of Music, where she completed her Bachelor of Music, Master of Music, and Artist Diploma.