Madeline Elizondo, OPERA San Antonio’s Education Coordinator, began with the company as an outreach artist founding the “Explore Opera for Kids!” program in collaboration with the San Antonio Public Library in 2017. Since joining the company full-time in 2019, she has expanded community partnerships, created innovative online teaching resources, and overhauled relationships with area schools which have achieved great success in promoting opera education across the community. Prior to working with OSA, Madeline Elizondo served as Adjunct Voice Faculty for San Antonio College for 15 years mentoring at-risk students in careers in the arts. As a voice teacher for 18 years, Madeline has guided aspiring young singers through their journey into higher level education. She has taught music in San Antonio public schools and in the community for over 20 years. She received a Masters in Vocal Performance and a Bachelor of Music in all-level Music Education from Texas State University-San Marcos. A passionate educator who continues to hone her craft, Madeline Elizondo has been a featured vocalist with several premiere Texas organizations. Engagements include roles with local and regional opera companies including South Texas Lyric Opera, Sparkling City Light Opera, San Antonio Opera and Austin Lyric Opera. Roles with South Texas Lyric Opera include both Santuzza and of Mamma Lucia/Santuzza understudy for Carol Vaness in Cavalleria Rusticana and the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors multiple times. Roles with Sparkling City Light Opera include Tisbe in La Cenerentola, the 3rd Lady in The Magic Flute and Hansel in a company debut performance of Hansel and Gretel. Other roles include the Mother of Cio-Cio-San with the San Antonio Opera under the direction of John de Lancie in a modern production of Madame Butterfly and Madame Croissy in Dialogues of the Carmelites. She was also part of the Austin Lyric Opera American premiere of Waiting for the Barbarians by Philip Glass. Concert soloist engagements include productions of The Messiah with the Corpus Christi Chorale, Elijah with South Texas Lyric Opera, and multiple performances with the chamber ensemble Lux Musicae including Mahler’s Der Abschied. She has also been featured in a series of performances at the McNay Art Museum including the role of Susan B. Anthony in The Mother of Us All and the art song cycle L’Histoire Naturelle by Ravel. Her performance of Susan B. was so well received as a part of their artist series that an encore performance of the work was requested. A versatile vocalist, Madeline has been featured at the Texas Jazz Festival in Corpus Christi and Jazz Alive in San Antonio with the Powerhouse Big Band, a premiere jazz band in San Antonio.
