Tatum Spears Opera Singer from Johnson City, TN

Tatum Spears, soprano, is originally from Weber City, Virginia. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from East Tennessee State University, where she studied voice with Sun-Joo Oh. During her undergraduate studies, Spears performed with the ETSU Chorale in Austria, Hungary, and New York City. In 2013, she made her professional opera debut as a member of the chorus in Asheville Lyric Opera's production of I Pagliacci. In 2016, she will make her international debut as Donna Anna in Franco-American Vocal Academy's production of Don Giovanni.   Spears was named the state winner of the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Voice Competition in 2012 and 2013. In 2014, she was the recipient of the Frances Shafter Recognition Award by the Metropolitan Opera National Council. Since receiving this award, Spears has made waves across the region. She has appeared in numerous newspapers, television interviews, magazines, and was a featured performer at the 2014 ETSU Distinguished President's Trust Dinner.   Other awards include the Academic Performance Scholarship, Powell Choral Scholarship, Colonial Heights Presbyterian Scholarship, and the Mary F. & Virgil C. Self Scholarship.   Spears completed a year of graduate studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Dean Southern. At CIM, she covered the role of Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito) and was a featured soloist in a collaborative concert with the Liszt Academy of Budapest.   Other previous roles and scene work include Contessa Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Adina (L'elisir d'amore), Tatyana (Eugene Onegin), Laetitia (The Old Maid and the Thief), Agathe (Der Freischütz), La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi), titular role (Vanessa), Mabel (Pirates of Penzance), Yum-Yum (The Mikado), Cunegonde (Candide), and Mistress Ford (The Merry Wives of Windsor).   Spears is also well versed in the world of musical theater. She has starred in numerous productions including Mayzie LaBird and Sour Kangaroo (Seussical! the Musical), Magenta (The Rocky Horror Show), and Brenda (Hairspray).   On the concert stage, Spears has appeared as a featured soloist with the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven's Fantasia in C minor, Op. 80 (2011) and Orchestra Sings, a concert of children's folk songs (2013); and in Monteverdi's Non havea febo ancora with Appalachian Men's Ensemble (AMEn).