Biography

Mexican-American mezzo-soprano, Christina Obledo-Esser, has been noted for her “captivating performances,” and “as a talented voice capable of transporting listeners to new heights” (The Desert Sun). This season, Ms. Esser made two company debuts performing in Marshall Opera’s inaugural concert at the Cell Theater where she premiered the aria “Apocalypse Song” by Alice Shields, and with the New Jersey Lyric Opera as Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto and Flora in La Traviata. This Summer she will perform the role of Sesto in Clemenza di Tito with the NY Opera Forum.

In 2021, Ms. Esser was selected to make her New York debut with Dell’arte Opera Ensemble performing the role of Giovanna Seymour in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena (canceled due to COVID), and to perform arias and duets for a pre-performance show as part of the Russian Art’s Theater and Studio’s production of Gogol’s “The Overcoat” at Pushkin Hall. Other roles include Hermia in Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Nights Dream with the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, both the title role in a world premiere workshop reading of Juana by Carla Lucero and Mrs. Krawcyck in Janice Hamer’s Lost Childhood with Opera UCLA, and the role of Dardano in a new production of Amadigi under the baton of GRAMMY® award winning conductor Stephen Stubbs with opera UCLA.

Other role highlights include Virtù and Poppea (cover) in L’incoronazione di Poppea, The Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro, and The Monitress in Suor Angelica.

In 2020, Ms. Esser was selected as one of nine finalists (both instrumental and vocal) to compete in the prestigious Hennings-Fischer Burbank Philharmonic Young Artist Competition. She has also been a featured young artist with the Palm Springs Opera Guild, and in May 2020, was selected to be a guest teaching artist in their California education outreach tour, “Opera in the Schools” (Canceled due to Covid-19).

A versatile artist, Ms. Esser also excels in standard concert works and recitals. She has performed as the soprano soloist in Schubert’s “Mass in G” with the Santa Ynez Master Chorale and Orchestra, the mezzo-soprano soloist in excerpts from Handel’s Messiah with the Idyllwild Master Chorale and Orchestra, and as the mezzo-soprano soloist for Bernstein’s Songfest with Opera UCLA.

In 2018, 2019, and 2020, Ms. Esser attended the International Vocal Academy in Payerbach, Austria, where she studied with world-renowned baritone Vladimir Chernov and bel canto expert Olga Toporkova. She has also been a participant in the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival where she worked with soprano Jennifer McGregor and conductor Paul Floyd.

As a freelance digital artist and poet, Ms. Esser also excels in the visual and linguistic aspects of music and has recently found a niche in creating multimedia concerts, incorporating animation and poetry alongside the music being performed. She has also been involved in both creating and/or running supertitles for new operatic works such as Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Garden of Finzi with New York City Opera, and Zaid Jabri’s Southern Crossings, a new opera sponsored by Barnard College.

Christina received a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCSB, where she graduated magna cum laude, and a Master’s of Music in Vocal Arts degree from the University of California Los Angeles, studying under Vladimir Chernov, Peter Kazaras, and James Darrah. At UCLA, she was the recipient of a Departmental Music Scholarship, Graduate Fellowship Award, and was one of the Mimi Alpert Feldman Scholarship Competition winners. Currently, Christina Studies part time at the Herbert Berghof Acting Studio in New York.

Christina currently resides in Jersey City, New Jersey, and serves as vocal department chair at the Brooklyn School of Music in New York and as the company manager of Marshall Opera.