Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Madison Marie McIntosh. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Madison Marie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I love to share inspirational stories that will point people toward hope. 3:16, an opera in development that is loosely based on the amazing experiences of a retired Army chaplain, is one of the most uplifting projects in which I have ever had the privilege of being involved.

Susan Conti, the librettist of this opera, wrote:

“3:16 is an inspirational story of redemption and transformation. The young Mary Raven runs away from a harsh and unloving father, only to discover that the outside world is even crueler. She grows up to be Lieutenant Mary James — steely on the outside but unable to overcome her intense anger and guilt… until she has a miraculous experience that changes everything. The opera is full of the sheer beauty, lush harmonies, and emotional depth of Romantic-era music but also has a breathtaking style all its own. The music is a collaboration among some of today’s most exciting composers — including esteemed opera composer Theodore Christman; military veteran and award-winning composer Gary Vincent Koda; accomplished mezzo-soprano and composer Vita Koreneva; award-winning composer Akihiro Masuda; acclaimed orchestral composer Stéphane Tesan; and Jeff Shankley, not only a brilliant composer but also a legendary actor who performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and premiered roles in 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘴 and other musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Each composer has something special to offer, and all of their music comes together to form the arc of a story with a joyous ending that will lift your eyes to hope.”

3:16 will premiere in early 2025, and it will be an honor to sing the role of Mary. I hope that this beautiful and impactful opera will eventually reach people around the world. It has a powerful message that needs to be shared, and I am very grateful to be involved in such a meaningful project.

Madison Marie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have loved classical music since I was a toddler, and I started to imitate operatic voices soon after I turned six years old. When my Kindergarten class would sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” each morning, I would sing in my so-called opera voice — much to the consternation of my classmates. I would also embarrass my poor parents by singing very loudly in the congregation at church. I auditioned for a school play when I was in third grade, and the music director somehow contacted my parents and asked them whether they knew that I had a voice for singing. They replied, “Well, we knew she was loud…” My parents were exceedingly supportive of me, though. I started to take voice lessons a year or two later, by which time I knew that I wanted to be an opera singer. When I was 13 years old, I began to study with the late Virginia Zeani.

I am very grateful to have been given a wide variety of professional opportunities. Last year, I made my Carnegie Hall mainstage debut as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Dan Forrest’s 𝘙𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨. I have performed roles with opera companies such as Caramoor, the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Teatro Nuovo, Sarasota Opera, Teatro Grattacielo, and the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice. I have also sung in concerts and other events presented by Florida Grand Opera, Fort Worth Opera, and the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. In the coming months, I will reprise the role of Rosina in 𝘐𝘭 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪 𝘚𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘢 with Camerata New Jersey; perform in Mo. Eve Queler’s annual Bel Canto Opera Concert for the third time; premiere the role of Victoria in 𝘈 𝘭𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘦 𝘭𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘦, by Walter Seyfarth and Liche Ariza; and premiere the role of Mary in 3:16.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Although singers try very hard to avoid getting sick, we sometimes have to perform even when we’re under the weather. Of course, this occasionally makes for interesting performance and audition stories…

In December 2018, I had what was probably a case of laryngitis when I participated in the Vienna Summer Music Festival Vocal Competition. I started with “Cruda sorte.” While the judges were deliberating, I turned around, took a bottle of throat spray out of the bosom of my dress, and tried to spray some of the concoction into my throat covertly. Two of the judges asked whether I knew Prinz Orlofsky’s aria. I said that I had sung it quite a while ago and would be happy to read it over the pianist’s shoulder if anyone could provide a score. A member of the panel found the score on her iPad, and I brought it to the pianist but admitted that I might not be able to see very well. I was scheduled to have LASIK in less than a week, so I was not wearing contact lenses. I remembered the music, but I bent over at the hips (to keep my top half in a good position for singing) in order to read the text. I am very grateful that the VSMF panel selected me as the first-prize winner and generously awarded me a full scholarship to perform the role of Orlofsky in 𝘋𝘪𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘶𝘴 at the Wiener Kammeroper the following summer. That was a lovely experience!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Music is such a beautiful and emotionally impactful art form that it can be used to change our world for the better. For the past few years, it has been my goal to use my voice for this purpose. Benefit performances are my happy place, so to speak. I am very happy when churches and other nonprofit organizations ask me to sing in performances that will support them and their causes.

In 2021, I also began to work with Grey Team (a Florida-based nonprofit that works to prevent suicides among veterans suffering from PTSD) on a project called Voices of the Valiant (VOV). The initial purpose of this collaboration was to encourage veterans to express their thoughts and feelings as part of their emotional healing process. With the vets’ permission, their written works were paired with composers, who then composed songs that I subsequently premiered. This gave the veterans a new voice and a new way to share their emotions.

VOV later expanded to include operas, and the first two premiered in September 2022. 3:16, the opera that I described earlier, is the third VOV opera.

If you’d like to learn more about VOV, please check out @VoicesoftheValiant on Instagram!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @MadisonMarieMcIntosh
• Facebook: Madison Marie McIntosh, mezzo-soprano
• Linkedin: Madison Marie McIntosh

Image Credits

Scott Joshua Dere