In 2021 she returned to the stage singing Mimi with Palmetto Opera and Santuzza with New Camerata Opera. Megan Nielson has triumphed in roles including Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly (Regina Opera), Nedda in Pagliacci (Opera Ithaca & Amore Opera), Tatiana in Eugene Onegin (Utopia Opera), the title role in Tosca (New York Opera, Opera Ithaca, Regina Opera, Chelsea Opera), Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (Festival Opera de San Luis – Mexico & Opera Ithaca), Judith in Bluebeard's Castle (Opera Ithaca), Mimì in La Bohème (Opera Ithaca, Symphony of the Mountains, CoOperative), Chrysothemis in Elektra (Manhattan Opera Studio), the title role in Suor Angelica (Chelsea Opera & Manhattan Opera Studio), Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Fiordigligi in Così fan tutte, and Meg March in Little Women (Knoxville Opera).
In 2019 Ms. Nielson performed Salome’s Final scene from Strauss’ opera in recital at Juilliard with pianist Dror Baitel and was chosen to participate in New York Singing Teachers Association Jennifer Rowley’s master class. She also was a featured soloist for Connecticut Opera and performed on their Star-Crossed Lovers concert at the Sanibel Music Festival. In 2020, she will join Miami Music Festival as a featured performer on the Celebrity Edge Cruise.
During 2018 she returned to Miami to perform Elsa in Act II of Lohengrin, fully staged with orchestra at the Symphony Center. While in residence, she worked with director Antoine Wagner (Wagner’s great-great grandson), Robert Morrison, Linda Watson, and Alan Held. South Florida Classical Review said of her performance, “As Elsa, the soprano Megan Nielson sang with tones steely… with deep emotion and impassioned tones.” She performed a solo recital, The Airs Remain at the University of Houston and Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, NY with pianist Jessica Myers and directed by Ellen Jackson the program included Strauss’s Four Last Songs, and works by Chaminade, Laitman, Resphighi and Cesti.
Ms. Nielson was first chosen to participate in the Miami Wagner Institute in 2017, working with Brad Moore, Peter Grunberg, Alan Held, and Christine Brewer and performed the 3rd Norn in Götterdämmerung’s, as well as covering Sieglinde in Die Walküre at the Adrienne Arsht Center and sang Elsa’s Euch Lüften from Lohengrin in New Amsterdam Opera’s Wagner’s Concert with Keith Chambers and performed highlights from Madama Butterfly and Eugene Onegin with full orchestra at St Jean Baptiste Church’s Gala concert in Manhattan.
Voce di Meche declared her “superb in the title role” of Suor Angelica and for her performance of Nedda said, “Notable was her full rich tone and affecting acting. Just watching her increasing panic as the drama progressed was a lesson in acting.” She’s praised by Opera News for her "engaging" presence and full "bloom". Ms. Nielson is a versatile singer who thrives in traditional repertoire as well as in new works. She created the role of Ermia in the World Premiere of Kristin Hevner Wyatt’s Il Sogno with Metropolis Opera Project in NYC and also sang the role of Melisande in Sheldon Harnick's rarely performed opera, Frustration. In 2018, she was a resident artist with the Orchard Project in Saratoga Springs, NY. Competitions include district winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Austria's Meistersinger Competition, The Orpheus Competition, winner of the University of Tennessee Concerto Competition and a Career Bridges Grantee, the Mangin Memorial Award at Shreveport Opera’s Competition in 2016, and finalist with the Jensen Foundation in 2017.
She received her Bachelor’s of Music in Vocal Performance at the University of Kansas City - Missouri and her Masters in Voice and Pedagogy from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. She has enjoyed residencies with young artist programs including Sarasota Opera, Knoxville Opera, Bay View Music Festival, American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, and Princeton’s CoOPERAtive. Ms. Nielson is a student of Ms. Laura Brooks Rice and coaches with Mr. Thomas Bagwell.