B i o g r a p h y
Alyssa Toepfer has been praised as a soprano with "unbridled dexterity" (Kansas City Star) and a "marvelous, soaring tone" (KC Metropolis).
Recent engagements include Jean Binnicker in the world premiere of Stinney: An American Execution with Opera Grand Rapids, soprano soloist in Benjamin Boyle’s Cantata No. 1 with the Midwest Chamber Ensemble, and Mariane (Tartuffe) with Landlocked Opera. Other recent performances include Musetta (La bohème) with Opera180, Littler Daughter (Proving Up) with the Ad Astra Music Festival, and Dora in the world premiere of Our Trudy, also with the Ad Astra Music Festival.
In 2014, Ms. Toepfer earned international acclaim in her first pants role as Jemmy in Wichita Grand Opera’s production of Guillaume Tell. Opera News called her “a convincing Jemmy both musically and dramatically” while a reviewer from the German Rossini Society praised her as “a superb Jemmy... she acted as well as she sang.”
Additional roles include Gretel (Hӓnsel und Gretel) with Opera Omaha, Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) with The South Dakota Symphony, Zerlina (Don Giovanni) with Lawrence Opera Theatre, Adele (Die Fledermaus) with Opera South Dakota, Wanda (The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein) with Wichita Grand Opera, Princess/#1 in Conrad Susa’s Transformations with Kansas City Civic Opera, Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi) with Opera South Dakota, Adina (l’Elisir d’amore) and Fiordiligi (Cosi fan tutte), both with UMKC Opera, Norina (Don Pasquale), and Mabel (Pirates of Penzance).
Her concert soloist engagements include Mozart’s Requiem, Poulenc’s Gloria, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, and Vivaldi’s Gloria. As a choral musician, she sings with The Missouri Choral Artists, Spire Chamber Ensemble, Prometheus, and the Grammy award-winning Kansas City Chorale.
Alyssa was a district winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Born and raised in Sioux Falls, SD, she completed a Bachelor of Arts in Music at Augustana University and a Master of Music in Voice at The University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance.
