"She offered a dazzling performance of Moll’s signature tune, “Nickel Under the Foot.” - The Washington Post (2024)

Finally, Melanie Ashkar brings a refined grace to her portrayal of the Fox, blending elegance and emotional nuance into a truly memorable performance. - BroadwayWorld (2024)

Melanie Ashkar was truly outstanding in her Winter Opera debut, both in acting and singing, as Etienne’s wronged mistress, Adah, fully expressing her songs with her powerful mezzo-soprano voice. - Ladue News (2024)

Mezzo-soprano Melanie Ashkar provided effective dramatic weight as Adah, the woman Grandet has wronged, in the ballad “Under the Southern Moon”. Her voice had the rich, sultry quality the role required. - StageLeft St. Louis (2024)

Stealing the show vocally was the frisky mezzo-soprano of Melanie Ashkar, a native of Washington, D.C. Her luscious-voiced Métella lit up the room, and proved especially funny in the Act I ensemble “Connais pas,” where she pretends not to recognize Bobinet and Gardefeu in the train station. - Washington Classical Review (2024)

The role of Adah, a serving wench in love with the villain, is gorgeously sung by Melanie Ashkar. Hers is a sublimely professional performance—a deeply sensitive actress with a voice rich in dramatic subtleties. Her “Neath the Southern Moon” song is to die for. - BroadwayWorld (2024)

Lebanese-American mezzo-soprano Melanie Ashkar is known for the “rich texture” of her voice and her “deeply sensitive” acting. This season, she debuted with IN Series as Moll (The Cradle Will Rock), in a performance that The Washington Post called “dazzling.” She will also debut with Opera in the Heights in a favorite role, The Fox (The Little Prince), and she takes on the title role in La Grande Duchesse de Gérolstein in a return to L’Opéra Comique de Washington after her debut there last year, for which she was hailed as “luscious-voiced” and “stealing the show” by Washington Classical Review.

Last season, Melanie made role and company debuts with Washington Concert Opera as Suzy (La Rondine), with Opera Western Reserve as Mercédès (Carmen), with L’Opéra Comique de Washington as Métella (La Vie Parisienne), and with Winter Opera St. Louis as Adah (Naughty Marietta), for which BroadwayWorld named her “a deeply sensitive actress with a voice rich in dramatic subtleties.” She also returned to New York City Opera as Gertrude (Roméo et Juliette) and to Tundi Productions as Flosshilde (Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung). Melanie joined the Canton Symphony Orchestra for a program of Gustav and Alma Mahler songs and the Arlington Chorale as Alto Soloist in the East Coast premiere of The Stranger.

Since the pandemic, Melanie has performed with OperaDelaware and Opera Baltimore as Flora (La Traviata), a role she also covered at Virginia Opera, with Opera Southwest as Cathérine (Le Loup-garou), with Skylark Opera Theatre as Olga (Eugene Onegin), with Pacific Opera Project as the Witch (Hansel and Gretel), and with Tundi Productions as Siegrune (Die Walküre), among other roles. She appeared as the contralto soloist in Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle with the Oratorio Society of Virginia and was featured in concert with the Chesapeake Orchestra and the Northern Lights Music Festival.

Prior to the pandemic, Melanie completed a two-year residency at Utah Opera, where she appeared as Clotilde (Norma), The Fox (The Little Prince), Second Lady (The Magic Flute), Ida (Die Fledermaus), and La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi) on the mainstage. She also premiered four short operas written by Michael Ching, Lisa DeSpain, Tony Solitro, and Jacob Lee. On the concert stage, Melanie appeared with the Utah Symphony as the alto soloist in their annual Messiah, and in various roles in their semi-staged Candide. Melanie spent two summers as an Apprentice Artist at Central City Opera, where she performed the roles of Dritte Dame (Die Zauberflöte) and La Madre (Madama Butterfly).

Melanie has been recognized by the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Opera Piccola, the Schuyler Foundation for Career Bridges Grant Awards, and the Gerda Lissner Foundation. An Washington, DC native, she holds degrees from the University of Virginia, Georgetown University, and Mannes College.

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