Monday, August 12, 2024
Longy alum Isabel Randall (MM ‘23) will originate the roles of Ruby and ensemble in White Snake Projects’ world premiere of Is This America?, an opera on the life of Fannie Lou Hamer.
The opera will recount one of the most turbulent periods in American history, telling the story of the great Mississippi activist who galvanized the registration of Black voters in her home state despite overwhelming odds.
Randall will also join Dayton Opera as a 2024-25 Artist-in-Residence. Since 1960, Dayton Opera has enriched the cultural life of Miami Valley as an opera company attracting vocalists and stage directors from across the country and the world.
Isabel Randall
Photo by Meredith Hart Photography
“Some of my work with Dayton Opera will involve working with their education and outreach teams to bring opera to schools in the greater Dayton, Ohio area. I’m very passionate about using opera as a platform for community engagement, and I’m thankful to have established a solid foundation with that work while going to school in the Boston area,” says Randall.
Isabel Randall is a civically engaged opera singer, poet, and librettist from Rota, Spain. She is passionate about increasing the accessibility of opera, partnering regularly with UU Urban Ministry, Boston Opera Collaborative, and Camp Fire North Shore to bring opera to communities, organizations, and schools in the greater Boston area.
Although early in her career, Randall has gained international and regional recognition in the opera world. She was a finalist for the 2023-2025 SND Opera Studio at the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava, Slovakia, and an Eastern Region finalist for the 2024 National Association of Negro Musicians Scholarship Competition for Voice. Additional awards include First Place for the 2024 Thomas Music Study Club Voice Competition, the Second Prize Award for the 2023 Wilkinson Young Singers’ Fund, Longy School of Music’s 2023 Roman Totenburg Artistry Award, and Azusa Pacific University’s 2021 Dennis Royse Graduate Achievement & Excellence Award.
Randall credits her faculty mentors at Longy with giving her the strength and confidence to pursue her musical dreams. “Longy saw the potential in my career as an opera singer before I realized it fully for myself. I was given an opportunity to audition for the role of Ruggiero during the Fall 2021 production of Handel’s opera, Alcina. From there, I went on to learn and perform the role in just eight weeks. I had never performed an opera before, let alone with an orchestra!”
Randall was also an Apprentice Artist at Des Moines Metro Opera in 2022 and 2023. She holds a Graduate Performance Diploma in Vocal Studies from Longy, a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Azusa Pacific University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Baylor University.
You can see Isabel Randall in Is This America? from September 20-22, 2024, at the historic Strand Theatre in Dorchester. Tickets are available here.