South Carolina native Nakia Verner is praised for her sumptuous sound and spontaneous passion in recital performances and operatic portrayals which have delighted listeners from San Francisco to Rome. Here notable roles include Madama Butterfly , the First Lady in Die Zaüberflote, , Magda in La Rondine; and the title role of Suor Angelica. Verner has also sung the role of Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte and the title role in Ariadne Auf Naxos.
Nakia has degrees from Winthrop University, The University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and the Peabody Conservatory. Nakia graduated from The Catholic University of America with a D.M.A. in October 2014.
Nakia has performed both the soprano and alto solo in the Verdi Requiem , Ein deutsches Requiem by Brahms, and the alto solo in Bach’s Magnificat. She performed the role of the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, the title role in La Voix Humaine , Dottie in Finian’s Rainbow, and Mother in Hansel and Gretel. She is the winner of the George Woodhead prize for Voice, 1st place winner of both 2010 Washington Summer Opera Theatre Scholarship Competition and the 2012 CUA Concerto Competition . Ms. Verner made her debut with Maryland Lyric Opera as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana in July 2014. In March 2016 and June 2017, Ms. Verner performed the Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody with the Maryland Lyric Opera and the Piedmont Symphony Orchestra. Nakia played the role of Mother in Maryland Lyric Opera’s production of Amahl and the Night Visitors in December 2016. Ms. Verner made her debut in the title role in Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos in Berlin, Germany in August of 2017
|
|
‘Finian’s Rainbow’ at Catholic University by Jessica Vaughan
Jessica Vaughan
....and Nakia Verner (Dottie) brought the house down with her rendition of “Necessity.” |
|