Mezzo-soprano Maayan Voss de Bettancourt has been described as "fascinating" (Talkin' Broadway), "delightful" (Taminophile), and "powerful enough to make us sit up and take notice" (Talkin' Broadway). Her roles include Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice), Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro), L'enfant (L'enfant et les sortileges), and Nancy (Albert Herring). She has enjoyed performing offbeat repertoire, such as obscure Gilbert & Sullivan operettas like Iolanthe and Princess Ida (with Lamplighters Music Theatre), and has sung in (and done lighting for) burlesques with the Wilkes' Wonder Water troupe. Recently, Maayan has made significant forays into the contemporary vocal scene, premiering a song cycle by Chicago-based composer Ross Crean and Kathleen Sanders in The Contract Player by Price Walden. A woman of many talents, Maayan recently made her directing debut with a sold-out run of Händel's Alcina. She also blogs on occasion.
Look into Maayan's past...
Maayan Voss de Bettancourt, mezzo-soprano, was born singing; her first foray into music was memorizing all of her Disney movies as a child. Her initial formal training was in violin in third grade. Hating the violin, she switched to flute in fourth grade and never looked back. She continued playing flute all the way through college and picked up piccolo during high school. Her first paid gig as a musician was playing in the pit orchestra for Ray of Light Theater's production of The Secret Garden her junior year of high school.
Maayan discovered her love for classical singing when she joined the San Francisco Girls Chorus at 10. In 2002 she was in the children's chorus for the San Francisco Opera production of Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, which was the match that lit her fiery passion for opera. She continued studying music and graduated from The Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach in 2012 with her B.M. in Performance (Voice) and a minor in Theatre Arts. While there, she participated in productions of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro (chorus and Assistant to the Director); Massenet's Cendrillon (Esprit); Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann (chorus); and Maury Yeston's NINE (German chorus member). She was in the Opera Institute at her school her last two years at CSULB and participated in the Institute's Fall Scenes program, where she had the pleasure of singing excerpts from Nixon in China and Peter Grimes. She also premiered the role of M'Lady in Act I of Laughing Out Loud, an opera by Dr. Carolyn Bremer.
In her time at CSULB, Maayan also gained some valuable offstage experience. In addition to being Assistant to the Director for Le Nozze di Figaro, she was the Stage Manager for the Opera Institute's scenes program in 2010 and Assistant to the Producer for a concert series called Rediscovered Beauty. The series was orchestrated by then-graduate-student Ryan Ross and featured music written by composers who were oppressed or killed by the Nazi regime. Maayan also played flute and piccolo in the pit orchestras for the CSULB Theatre Department productions of Evita and Sideshow.
Since graduating, Maayan has been performing steadily. Her first role after she graduated was Valentine, Second Officer, and understudy for Olivia in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. She then, happily, became a regular performer with Lamplighters Music Theatre, a world-class company that specializes in Gilbert & Sullivan and light opera. With them she has performed in Princess Ida, The Sorcerer, Iolanthe, Upside-Downtown Abbey (Annual Champagne Gala & Auction 2013; Daisy), and Die Fledermaus. Maayan has also performed with Pocket Opera (chorus in Charles Gounod's Romeo & Juliette) and Cinnabar Theater (Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro). In 2014 she attended her first summer program, the NAPA Music Festival, where she performed Nancy in Albert Herring and was the Assitant Stage Manager for their production of Alcina.
Maayan moved to Manhattan in September 2014. She had the pleasure of premiering the role of Nancy Lowe in Bruce Trinkley and Jason Charnesky's Baby Shower (June 2015) with Fresh Squeezed Opera; singing The Child in Ravel's The Bewitched Child (July 2015) with the Midwest Institute of Opera, and Marcellina in OperaRox Presents's inaugural production, Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro (August 2015). She has also indulged her technical proclivities, choreographing the Venusberg Bacchanal for Apotheosis Opera's inaugural production of Tannhäuser (July 2015) and Assistant Directing/Stage Managing Utopia Opera's The Rape of Lucretia (September 2015).
Maayan currently studies with David Jones. Previous teachers include Rufus Müller, Sally Munro, and Dr. Katharin Rundus.
Look into Maayan's past...
Maayan Voss de Bettancourt, mezzo-soprano, was born singing; her first foray into music was memorizing all of her Disney movies as a child. Her initial formal training was in violin in third grade. Hating the violin, she switched to flute in fourth grade and never looked back. She continued playing flute all the way through college and picked up piccolo during high school. Her first paid gig as a musician was playing in the pit orchestra for Ray of Light Theater's production of The Secret Garden her junior year of high school.
Maayan discovered her love for classical singing when she joined the San Francisco Girls Chorus at 10. In 2002 she was in the children's chorus for the San Francisco Opera production of Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, which was the match that lit her fiery passion for opera. She continued studying music and graduated from The Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach in 2012 with her B.M. in Performance (Voice) and a minor in Theatre Arts. While there, she participated in productions of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro (chorus and Assistant to the Director); Massenet's Cendrillon (Esprit); Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann (chorus); and Maury Yeston's NINE (German chorus member). She was in the Opera Institute at her school her last two years at CSULB and participated in the Institute's Fall Scenes program, where she had the pleasure of singing excerpts from Nixon in China and Peter Grimes. She also premiered the role of M'Lady in Act I of Laughing Out Loud, an opera by Dr. Carolyn Bremer.
In her time at CSULB, Maayan also gained some valuable offstage experience. In addition to being Assistant to the Director for Le Nozze di Figaro, she was the Stage Manager for the Opera Institute's scenes program in 2010 and Assistant to the Producer for a concert series called Rediscovered Beauty. The series was orchestrated by then-graduate-student Ryan Ross and featured music written by composers who were oppressed or killed by the Nazi regime. Maayan also played flute and piccolo in the pit orchestras for the CSULB Theatre Department productions of Evita and Sideshow.
Since graduating, Maayan has been performing steadily. Her first role after she graduated was Valentine, Second Officer, and understudy for Olivia in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. She then, happily, became a regular performer with Lamplighters Music Theatre, a world-class company that specializes in Gilbert & Sullivan and light opera. With them she has performed in Princess Ida, The Sorcerer, Iolanthe, Upside-Downtown Abbey (Annual Champagne Gala & Auction 2013; Daisy), and Die Fledermaus. Maayan has also performed with Pocket Opera (chorus in Charles Gounod's Romeo & Juliette) and Cinnabar Theater (Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro). In 2014 she attended her first summer program, the NAPA Music Festival, where she performed Nancy in Albert Herring and was the Assitant Stage Manager for their production of Alcina.
Maayan moved to Manhattan in September 2014. She had the pleasure of premiering the role of Nancy Lowe in Bruce Trinkley and Jason Charnesky's Baby Shower (June 2015) with Fresh Squeezed Opera; singing The Child in Ravel's The Bewitched Child (July 2015) with the Midwest Institute of Opera, and Marcellina in OperaRox Presents's inaugural production, Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro (August 2015). She has also indulged her technical proclivities, choreographing the Venusberg Bacchanal for Apotheosis Opera's inaugural production of Tannhäuser (July 2015) and Assistant Directing/Stage Managing Utopia Opera's The Rape of Lucretia (September 2015).
Maayan currently studies with David Jones. Previous teachers include Rufus Müller, Sally Munro, and Dr. Katharin Rundus.