Ms. Alissa Plenzler

Alissa Plenzler, soprano, is a Professor of Voice at Mississippi State University. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Dayton, a Master of Music degree from Bowling Green State University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Alabama, where she also pursued secondary studies in opera direction and stage pedagogy.

Plenzler is an active performer whose work spans opera, recital, symphonic, and chamber performances. Her operatic credits include roles such as the Witch and Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Nella (Gianni Schicchi), Casilda and Gianetta (The Gondoliers), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), and the Daughter (Jephte), which was adapted for recording during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has also appeared in the Dayton and Toledo Opera Choruses for Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles.

A passionate advocate for underrepresented composers and poets, Plenzler curated two recitals devoted entirely to the works of African American and African Diaspora composers. Her research on the settings of poetry by women of the Harlem Renaissance culminated in a presentation at the 2024 National Association of Teachers of Singing National Conference in Knoxville, and a dissertation titled “The Heart of a Woman: Curating the Present Inventory and Promoting Future Musical Settings of Texts by Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance.”

Her solo concert highlights include a 2024 performance of Mozart’s Requiem with the Prentice Concert Chorale, as well as a 2022 grand prize appearance with the Huxford Symphony Orchestra, where she performed the Act I aria “Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém” from Dvořák’s Rusalka. Additionally, in 2019, she was featured as a soloist in Steve Reich’s Tehillim at the University of Notre Dame, appearing with the Grammy Award-winning ensemble Third Coast Percussion.

An enthusiastic and versatile educator, Plenzler has taught private voice for over five years, guiding 21st-century singers toward stylistic fluency across genres. She is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the National Opera Association, and the African American Art Song Alliance.