Patricia Alessi

 

Patricia Alessi, born in Revere, MA, USA, graduated with her Bachelor of Music in Classical Voice (Performance)  and Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies (both Highest Honours) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in December 2008; gained her Master of Music in Opera Performance in May 2011 from the University of British Columbia; and, is currently a  PhD Candidate in Music (Research - Performance Practice) at the University of Western Australia under the supervision of Assoc/Prof David Symons (UWA), W/Prof Robert White (UWA), Dr Jane Davidson (UMelb), and David G. Frey Distinguished Professor of Music Dr Tim Carter (UNC-CH), with the completion date of November 2015. She is also currently a PhD Scholar with The Australian Research Council’s Centre for the History of Emotions, 1100-1800.

 

In February 2015 she was awarded as one of eight worldwide and completed a Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (German Academic Exchange Service) [DAAD] Research Grant for Doctoral Candidates. She undertook both practical (singing) and archival research for her current PhD thesis: ‘Understanding Early English Opera Character-Type for the Female Singer’: A Study in the History of Emotional Expression in Operatic Performance, 1660-1750 at Die Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Prof Gundula Anders, the renowned German early music soprano, guided this research as Patricia’s practical [singing] research supervisor.

 

Patricia Alessi and Deborah Seiler co-edited Limina: A Journal of Historical and Cultural Studies, Volume 20.3, Special Edition: Festschrift (2015) dedicated to the memory of the late Philippa Maddern, Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions, published on Friday 20 March 2015. The special edition contains  nine articles in total written by Georg Corall, Kelly Midgley, Hugh Chevis, Deborah Seiler, James Smith, Shane McLeod, Andrew Broertjes, Loretta Dolan and Clare Davidson. This Special Edition can be read at http://www.limina.arts.uwa.edu.au/volumes/special-2015. A hardcopy version was also published in September 2015.

 

An active opera singer, Patricia placed as a University Finalist (Boston) in the 2013 Classical Singer Audition Plus Competition as well as sung the role of Cupid in the ARC Centre for the History of Emotion’s August 2013 production of John Blow’s Venus and Adonis. In October 2015, she is portraying the role of the First Bridesmaid in the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Western Australia’s production of Trial By Jury at the Subiaco Performing Arts Centre.

 

Further augmenting her vocal studies, she gained her McClosky Voice Technician Certification in July 2013, and she also studied at the International Baroque Institute in August 2013. In March 2016, Patricia will begin the Australian re-certification process as a Speech Pathologist (still specialising in professional voice users) at Curtin University. Patricia currently studies voice with Ms Linda Barcan (WAAPA) and is coached in historical music by Mr Georg Corall (Perth Baroque; les hautboïstes de prusse; and CantatenBande Berlin). A full artistic list as well as an updated calendar of activities and events can be found at www.patriciaalessi.com.