Italian mezzo soprano Benedetta Orsi has made quite a name for herself in the St. Louis area. Recently recognized by Missouri Arts Council as one of their Featured Artists, she was awarded the Paul Harris Fellow as one of the most influential Italian excellences to spread the Italian culture and art abroad.
Nominated in 2018 for Outstanding Achievement in Opera by the St. Louis Theater Circle, Benedetta is one of only a few contemporary mezzo sopranos to have performed all three of Donizetti’s Tudor Operas: Jane Seymour in Anna Bolena, Elisabetta in Maria Stuarda and Sara in Roberto Devereux with Royal Opera Theater in Manchester, UK.
Recent performances also include Adalgisa in Norma with Winter Opera St. Louis, the title role of Carmen with Winter Opera St. Louis, Amore Opera in New York, Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria Rusticana with the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera with the Miami Lyric Opera and Maddalena in Rigoletto with Amore Opera. Mrs. Orsi’s performance credits include roles in Verdi Rigoletto, Falstaff, Trovatore, Bellini Norma and La Sonnambula, Rossini L’Italiana in Algeri and Il Turco in Italia, and Massenet Werther.
Along with concert appearances at Carnegie Hall and throughout Italy, Austria, England, France, United States, Brazil, and Spain, she is very involved in the St. Louis musical scene, collaborating with the Sheldon, Chamber Music Society, the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra, the World Chess Hall of Fame, Washington University Symphony Orchestra, and more.
Since 2023 Benedetta has been worked with The Magic House, Children’s Museum in creating the Italian Exhibit Ciao Bambini, as one of their featured artists for the upcoming Cultural and On Stage – Performance Series.
As a recording artist, her latest album, INcanto, recorded for the Swiss Label BAM International, has been awarded the Double Gold Medal at the Global Music Awards as Best Classical Album and Best Female Artist.
Both her previous productions, La Voix de l’Amour, released for the international label Limen Music, and Christmas Around the World, were awarded by the Global Music Awards with Gold and Silver Medals as Best Album and Best Female Artist.
Benedetta received her bachelor degree in Music & Voice from Istituto Pareggiato O. Vecchi & A. Tonelli in Modena, Italy, and a Master in Voice from Regia Accademia Filarmonica in Bologna, Italy. She was selected as one of the ten best singers to attend Ms. Teresa Berganza’s masterclasses in Léon, Spain and after she paired her studies with numerous masterclasses and stage workshops taught by opera luminaries such as Marilyn Horne, Mirella Freni, Luciana Serra, Sergio Bertocchi, and stage director Chuck Hudson.
Mrs. Orsi is a first prize winner in the Barry Alexander International Voice Competition; First Prize and Star Performer Award in the American Protégé International Voice Competition; Third Prize Winner in the Roschel International Voice Competition, and Audience & Orchestra Award in the Boulder Music Institute International Voice Competition. In her homeland, she received the Audience Award & Special Prize in the Italian Music Federation at the 28th Piero Boni International Voice Competition.
Motivated in fostering mutually beneficial relations in education, art and culture between her Italian hometown, Bologna, and St. Louis, Ms. Orsi is a member of the St. Louis-Bologna Sister Cities, where since 2018 she presents Benedetta & Friends – Christmas Concert.
Very active and committed to represent and support women in music, Ms. Orsi is the co-founder of In Her Sound, Inc., and the Chorale President of the St. Louis Women’s Chorale.
G. Donizetti “Anna Bolena”
“Benedetta Orsi excels as Giovanna, and it is remarkable to note that this is her full-role debut, because in the complex relationship with the queen, she creates just the right stage alchemy, with sumptuous voice and particularly incisive delivery.”
— Richard Wilcocks, Backtrack
G. Donizetti “Anna Bolena”
“Benedetta Orsi excels as Giovanna, and it is remarkable to note that this is her full-role debut, because in the complex relationship with the queen, she creates just the right stage alchemy, with sumptuous voice and particularly incisive delivery.”
— Richard Wilcocks, Backtrack