The Portland State University School of Music & Theater is thrilled to announce that Kelley Nassief ‘89 has been selected to lead the Portland State Opera program, after a 16-month national search. Nassief is a critically acclaimed soprano with a distinguished academic background, extensive teaching experience and a stellar international career of performances with the world’s most respected conductors and orchestras. She succeeds Christine Meadows ‘83, who retired in 2021.
Nassief’s vocal career began at Portland State, where she studied under Ruth Dobson and Bruce Browne, earning a bachelor’s degree in music performance. She went on to earn a master’s degree in vocal pedagogy at Westminster Choir College, and has performed in dozens of operatic and vocal roles at companies worldwide, including the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Lyric Opera of Chicago, L’Orchestre de Paris and many others. Her teaching experience includes more than ten years at Adelphi, Stony Brook University and Hofstra University, in addition to a decades-long private teaching practice. She has been an adjunct instructor in the Applied Voice program at PSU’s School of Music & Theater since 2021. Nassief will begin her new role as Director of Opera and Opera Studios in September 2022.
“I’m thrilled that Kelley is joining the faculty of the School of Music & Theater,” said Leroy Bynum Jr., dean of the College of the Arts. “Her credentials are extremely impressive, as is her body of work as a performing artist. Her work with the students here at Portland State has been exceptional, so I think it’s especially wonderful that PSU is able to welcome one of its own who has achieved such acclaim in the world of voice and opera and is now returning to share her wealth of talent and experience with our students.”
Interim director Harry Baechtel has led PSU’s Opera program after Christine Meadows stepped down in 2021. "Kelley Nassief brings a remarkable skill set to the position with her world-class vocal talent and her experience working at the highest levels of the art form,” commented Baechtel. “Her extensive training and understanding of the human voice mixed with her empathic, intuitive ability to meet students where they are has already proven to be an invaluable resource for our students in her work at PSU this year. We look forward to more of this! As a PSU alum, Kelley understands what we are about, and she demonstrates through her personal experience what it takes to use this program as a launching point for an exciting career in the vocal arts."
“I am delighted to welcome Kelley Nassief to the opera and arts community in Portland in her new role as Portland State University’s Opera & Opera Studios Director!” said Sue Dixon, general director of Portland Opera and a member of the selection committee. “All of us at Portland Opera look forward to growing and solidifying our collaborative partnership with PSU that provides students access to resources and perspectives about their future careers in opera, both on and off the stage.”
Over her 15 years leading the PSU Opera, Meadows grew the program into a world-class professional training ground for students in the vocal arts--one of few in the country that offers both undergraduate and graduate students opportunities to take on leading roles in full-scale opera productions. Alumni of PSU’s vocal arts program have established professional careers with roles on Broadway, the Metropolitan and beyond.
Learn more about Portland State’s Opera program.