About

In the world-premiere of JOSEPHINE with UrbanArias “... the afternoon belonged to Melissa Wimbish, who was creating the role of Josephine Baker. Beautifully prepared, vocally stunning, and theatrically riveting, Wimbish effortlessly held the audience in her hand throughout this one-woman show.” (The Washington Post) Praised by The New York Times for her “stylish singing” and by The Boulder Daily Camera as “simply incredible ... the highlight of the entire evening,” she is celebrated for her captivating stage work and technical prowess across genres. Her work is relentless in variety, spanning classical, contemporary, and popular styles.

Melissa enjoys a career of exciting variety on stage including opera, musical theater, rock opera, concert work, and oratorio. This season, she will sing the role of Miriam in THE ORDERING OF MOSES with IN Series and the Heritage Signature Chorale in the first ever staged production of R. Nathaniel Dett’s oratorio. She will appear as soprano soloist with Bach in Baltimore for BWV 112 and the ST. JOHN PASSION. Recent solo concert highlights include Britten’s LES ILLUMINATIONS at the ChamberQueer Festival, Bernstein’s MASS at the Kennedy Center, CARMINA BURANA with Washington Ballet, Mozart’s REQUIEM with Richmond Symphony, KNOXVILLE: SUMMER OF 1915 with Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra, DONA NOBIS PACEM with Central Maryland Chorale, EIN DEUTSCHES REQUIEM with The Thirteen Ensemble, Mozart’s GRAND MASS IN C MINOR at the New Hampshire Music Festival and a HOLIDAY POPS tour with Vermont Symphony including works by Price, Reger, and Mozart as well as traditional holiday standards and Mariah Carey’s iconic “All I Want for Christmas is You.” She starred in CAMELOT with DC's Shakespeare Theatre as Nimue and in Elvis Costello's rock opera / song cycle THE JULIET LETTERS with UrbanArias.

An in-demand interpreter of living work, the coloratura soprano has premiered dozens of new works. She recently performed the role of Stella-Rondo in the world-premiere of WHY I LIVE AT THE P.O. by Stephen Eddins at the Keegan Theatre. Notable new music highlights include her dazzling Baltimore Symphony solo debut in Ligeti’s MYSTERIES OF THE MACABRE, the world-premiere of THAT WHICH WE CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT for soprano and orchestra with Peabody Modern Orchestra, the US-premiere of Pablo Manavello’s EL CAMINO DE SANTIAGO at Strathmore Hall, and four US tours with her band, Outcalls. Her Carnegie Hall solo recital debut featured works exclusively by living American composers, including the world-premiere of SPACE IN CHAINS by Jessica Meyer set to poetry by Laura Kasischke. With the original cast of PAUL'S CASE by Gregory Spears and Kathryn Walat, she premiered the role of the History Teacher at PROTOTYPE FESTIVAL and later recorded the role for NATIONAL SAWDUST TRACKS. She will premiere Robert Manno’s PORTRAIT OF MILLAY with orchestra in 2024.

At the National Association of Teachers of Singing national competition, Wimbish was awarded the top honor NATS Artist Award as well as the Franco-American Award for Best Interpretation of French Repertoire. Her performance in four rounds of the competition at the district, regional, and national levels included traditional and modern song compositions. Additional awards include Best Interpretation of American Song at the International Liszt-Garrison Competition, Winner of the Vocal Arts Society Discovery Series, the Denver Philharmonic Concerto Competition, Kennett Square Symphony Competition, the Dante Alighieri Award, a Denver Lyric Opera Guild Award, The Hilda Perl and Douglas Goodwin Award for Opera, and The Peabody Voice Award.

Her roster of professional appearances include American Opera Projects, UrbanArias, On Site Opera, Baltimore Symphony, IN Series Opera, The Thirteen Ensemble, Annapolis Chamber Music Festival, Richmond Symphony, Chelsea Opera, Denver Philharmonic, National Philharmonic, American Modern Ensemble, Baltimore Opera, Baltimore Concert Opera, Maryland Opera, Manchester Choral Society, New Hampshire Music Festival, Peabody Modern Orchestra, The Spirituals Project, MSU Denver Symphony Orchestra, Concert Artists of Baltimore, The Occasional Symphony, and Young Artists of America at Strathmore. Operatic roles include Musetta (LA BOHEME), Pamina (THE MAGIC FLUTE), Cunegonde (CANDIDE), Manon (MANON), Adele (DIE FLEDERMAUS), Lady with the Cakebox (POSTCARD FROM MOROCCO), Micaëla (CARMEN), Cherubino (THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO; Marcos Portugal), Nella (GIANNI SCHICCHI), Barbarina (LE NOZZE DI FIGARO), Silly Baby Mouse (THE TALE OF THE SILLY BABY MOUSE), Miss Rose (LAKME), First Lady (DIE ZAUBERFLOTE), Blöndchen (DIE ENTFUHURUNG AUS DEM SERAILl), Queen of the Night (DIE ZAUBERFLOTE), Christine (LOST CHILDHOOD; Janice Hamer), Nancy Tuckerman (CAMELOT REQUIEM; Joshua Bornfield), Eve (ADAM AND EVE; Patrick Soluri), and in Poulenc’s monodrama for soprano, LA VOIX HUMAINE.

Melissa fronts the pop duo Outcalls who have rapidly established themselves as a genre- defying powerhouse in the DMV music scene. Their album, NO KING, was praised in The Baltimore Sun and Baltimore Magazine. Outcalls was awarded the prestigious Baker Artist Award (2021) after being named finalists in both 2019 and 2020. Their third studio album, GREATEST HITS, VOL. 1 was released in February 2022.