Erin Nafziger, soprano

Erin Kathleen Casey’s soprano voice has been called “consistent, well-balanced, and beautiful…”(Michael Miller, The Berkshire Review for the Arts). She is a frequent soloist with the Williams Chamber Players and The Greylock Opera Collective of New England, most recently in the titular role of the world premiere of The Weeping Woman by Michael Dilthey at MASS MoCA. She made her Berkshire Symphony debut in 2019 with Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, along with her debut at Ozawa Hall in Schubert’s Mass in G. Other roles include Countess Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Micaëla in Tragédie de Carmen, Mimì in La Bohème, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Soeur Constance in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Adele in Die Fledermaus, and Nella in Gianni Schicchi. Concert performances include appearances as the soprano soloist in Igor Stravinsky’s Les Noces, G.F. Handel’s Messiah, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, J.S. Bach’s Magnificat, John Adams’ Grand Pianola Music, and Fauré’s Requiem. She received First Prize in the Aspen Music Festival’s Vocal Concerto Competition, Third Prize in the Bel Canto Prize in the Aspen Music Festival’s Vocal Concerto Competition, Third Prize in the Bel Canto Foundation Competition, was a finalist in both the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra competition and the Classical Idol Competition, and was the recipient of the Francesco and Hilda Riggio Award in the New England Regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She has directed operas both at Williams and abroad, most recently in Sicily, Italy for the Mediterranean Opera Studio and Festival’s production of Puccini’s La Boheme. She has also developed a passion for conducting, and in January of 2023 she made her conducting debut with Williams College’s production of Die Zauberflöte. She anticipates directing and conducting Don Giovanni at Williams in January of 2024. She has been an Artist Associate at Williams College since 2006, and is co-director of the Williams Opera Workshop. This summer she looks forward to leading masterclasses and performing La Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro at the Winter Harbor Music Festival in Maine.