Colorado Springs native Meg Brilleslyper is a mezzo-soprano currently in her final year of graduate school in the studio of Robin Rice at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. This summer, Meg will attend the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco, CA. Soon after, Meg will join the Bayerische Staatsoper Opernstudio for the 2025/26 season. Meg attended the Music Academy of the West in 2024 as a Lehrer Vocal Institute Fellow and sang Mercédès in Carmen. In 2023, Meg attended the Young Artists’ Vocal Academy at Houston Grand Opera under the vocal instruction of Dr. Stephen King. Following that program, Ms. Brilleslyper returned to the Aspen Music Festival as a Studio Artist, working with Patrick Summers, Renée Fleming, Rachelle Fleming, Robin Rice, and Betsy Bishop. Meg is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music (‘23) from the studio of Katherine Ciesinski. 

Upcoming roles include Cherubino in The Ghosts of Versailles at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and Isolier in Le comte Ory at the Merola Opera Program. At the Bayerische Staatsoper, Meg will sing Flora in La Traviata, Sandmännchen in Hänsel und Gretel, Die Vertraute in Elektra, Flowermaiden in Parsifal, Clotilde in Norma, a bridesmaid in Der Freischütz, and Der Küchenjunge in Rusalka. Recent roles include Bradamante in Alcina, Mercédès in Carmen at Music Academy of the West, as well as Lucretia* in The Rape of Lucretia, Bianca in The Rape of Lucretia, and Filipyevna* in Eugene Onegin at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. Meg sang the role of the Healer in the premiere of So You May Breathe In Light, a one-act opera by Theo Chandler, in April 2024. Her roles with Eastman Opera Theatre include The Foreign Singer in Postcard from Morocco, Pane in La Calisto, Granny/Witch Cover in Into the Woods, and Ruggiero in Alcina. Ms. Brilleslyper sang the role of Nancy in the Miami Beach Music Festival’s Albert Herring. Scenes performances include Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Sesto in Giulio Cesare, and 2nd Lady in Die Zauberflöte.

Meg was one of seven finalists in the 2025 Concert of Arias competition at Houston Grand Opera. In January 2025, Meg was named a winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition Houston District and will compete at the regional competition in February 2025. With her collaborator, Lyndsi Maus, Meg competed in the Schubert and Modern Music International Chamber Music Competition in February 2025 in Graz, Austria advancing to the semi-finals. Previously, Meg won an Encouragement Award at the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition Houston District in 2024, first place in the Jessie Kneisel Lieder Competition (May 2023), and won the Eastman School of Music Concerto Competition (November 2022) with Rossini’s La regata veneziana. She also received an Encouragement Award in the Schmidt Vocal Institute Undergraduate Voice Competition (Jan. 2023). Outside of opera, Meg enjoys singing concert repertoire and oratorio. While at Eastman, Ms. Brilleslyper was selected as the alto soloist for three Bach Cantatas (BWV 132, 33, 34) in the Eastman Cantata Series as well as the alto soloist for Beethoven’s Mass in C Major and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Eastman Philharmonia. 

In addition to her vocal performance degree studies, Ms. Brilleslyper was an Arts Leadership Certificate Candidate at Eastman’s Institute for Music Leadership. She is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda and a recipient of the Eastman School of Music Ornest Award for excellence in academic and musical endeavors. Ms. Brilleslyper values the intersection of music, leadership, and academic achievement. Ms. Brilleslyper served as the 2022-2023 President of the Students’ Association and the Secretary of Sigma Alpha Iota at Eastman. She was a Student Alumni Ambassador and was a Resident Advisor during her sophomore and junior years. During her summers at the Aspen Music Festival, Ms. Brilleslyper was selected as a Student Ambassador.

When not singing or studying, she enjoys all things physical fitness and the outdoors. Meg is passionate about the intersection of vocal training and physical health and enjoys hiking, adventuring, and traveling with her friends and family!

*Denotes cover role