About Samantha Long
Samantha Long is a promising young soprano who enjoys a growing career performing on the stage, with a wide range of repertoire from throughout the opera and musical theater canon. A passionate performer, she "has a soprano, full of color and shine" (David Fox, parterre.com), and has engaged audiences in operas, recitals, and competitions throughout the U.S. and abroad.
At Rice University's Shepherd School of Music, Samantha most recently sang the role of Congregant/Queer Kid in Kamala Sankaram's Taking Up Serpents. Additional Shepherd School Opera credits include Il destino in Francesco Cavalli's La Calisto and the cover of the title role in Carlisle Floyd's Susannah. A lover of contemporary American opera, she has performed the role of Rose in Jake Heggie's At the Statue of Venus and Jo March in Little Women with the Vanderbilt Opera Theater. Most recently, she performed the role of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at the Miami Music Festival, as well as the title role in Iolanta with the Russian Opera Workshop in Philadelphia. Performances abroad include her portrayal of Countess Almaviva in the Prague Summer Nights production of Le nozze di Figaro in 2018. In its review of the production, OperaWire.com reported "as Countess Almaviva, Samantha Long's portrayal elicited the tears to accompany the laughter of the evening." Ms. Long is also frequent competitor, most recently winning first place in the Iowa District of the 2018-2019 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Samantha was one of four vocalists to win the district, and was one of four award-winners at the regional level, taking home one of the Encouragement Awards in the Upper Midwest Region.
A native of Des Moines, Iowa, Ms. Long obtained her Bachelor of Music degree from Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music, and obtained her Master of Music Degree from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. In addition to singing, Ms. Long has more than twenty years of piano experience, and has played the saxophone since the fifth grade.
