Elisa Matthews is attracting attention in the musical theatre and opera worlds for her sweet soprano and compelling stage presence.  Recently she played Magnolia in Show Boat at Media Theatre.  Neal Zoren writing for the Delco Times reported "Matthews doesn’t let any moment pass without revealing exactly who Magnolia is and what she’s thinking. ...Add Matthews’s lovely and note-perfect lyric soprano voice to her solid, seamless acting, and you have a total performance from a total performer..."  She will return to Media Theatre to play Sharon in Terrence Mc Nally's Master Class opposite Tony-nominated actress Ann Crumb this February.

Other recent musical theatre roles include Johanna in a Barrymore-winning production of Sweeney Todd with Arden Theatre Company, Belle in A Christmas Carol with People’s Light & Theatre, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and Nancy in Oliver! with Media Theatre.  She has premiered numerous musical theatre works, most recently grammy winner Frank London's A Night in the Old Marketplace with Prince Music Theater, Winesburg, Ohio and Café Puttanesca with Arden Theatre Company.

This summer Elisa will be a Resident Professional Artist with Ohio Light Opera in Wooster Ohio.  Recently she wowed Opera Delaware audiences with her touching portrayal of Beth in Little Women and returned to play Susanna in their production of Le Nozze di Figaro.  The News Journal raved "Soprano Elisa Matthews is a perfect Susanna.  She has a clear, lovely voice, nowhere more effective than in her Act IV aria [Deh Vieni non Tardar]."  Other opera roles include Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Nella in Gianni Schicchi, Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and Annina in La Traviata. She has performed roles with The Opera Company of Philadelphia, Center City Opera Theater and Bard Music Festival.

On the concert stage, she has performed with the Immaculata Symphony as soprano soloist in Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate, the Delaware Valley Chorale for Donald McCullough’s Holocaust Cantata, the Williamsport Civic Chorus for Brahm’s Ein Deutches Requiem, and in various concerts with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops.

 

Ms. Matthews holds a Master of Music with a major in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from the Pennsylvania State University, where she appeared in several productions, most notably as Annina in The Saint of Bleecker Street and Alice Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art and Music from Connecticut College where she graduated Cum Laude and appeared as Sister Mary Amnesia in Nunsense.