Soprano Melissa Shippen was heard as Marenka in the 2005 Juilliard Opera Center production of The Bartered Bride under Maestro Mark Stringer. She has been rewarded the 2005-6 American Berlin Opera Foundation Scholarship; As a recipient, she will be singing roles with the prestigious Deutsche Oper Berlin this upcoming season. Her roles include: First Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Nella in Gianni Schicchi, Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica. She will also cover Mimi under maestro Daniel Oren, and Faust’s Marguerite. In 2004, Melissa sang the role of Lia in the NYC premiere of Debussy’s L’enfant prodigue under Maestro Yves Abel. She received the 2003 Culture Award from the American Scandinavian Society at the United Nations.   Ms. Shippen won the Orpheus National Music Competition and was named a winner at the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition in 2002.  She made her professional opera debut with the Palm Beach Opera Company as Antonia in The Tales of Hoffmann in 2003, and returned in the 2004 season as Blanche in Les Dialogues des Carmelites.  She sang Mimi in La Boheme with the Aspen Opera Theater in 2003 under Maestro Julius Rudel. The following year, she sang the role at the Filene Center of Wolf-Trap with the National Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Stephen Lord. She also was a solo artist on a French Soiree song concert with Steven Blier at the Barns of Wolf-Trap in 2004.