Opera in the Ozarks

Dr. Elvia L. Puccinelli is Associate Professor of Music at the University of North Texas College of Music, where she has served on the faculty since 2004 as vocal coach and professor of collaborative piano. A dedicated educator in the field of collaborative arts and a specialist in vocal literature, she has held previous appointments with Baylor University and the Thornton School of Music of the University of Southern California. She has been a clinician or guest teacher at universities throughout the country, including holding a residency at the University of Southern California. Many of her former students have won positions with prestigious training programs, are now employed at houses such as Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and Opera Utah, or are on staff or faculty at universities throughout the country.

Alongside her teaching, Dr. Puccinelli is active as a collaborative pianist, vocal coach, and chamber musician. She has appeared in song and chamber music recitals at venues from Los Angeles to New York City, and throughout Europe. A frequent presenter at a number of national and international conferences and congresses, her broad professional experience embraces such diverse performance events as the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Chamber Concert Series, Placido Domingo's Operalia Competition, the International Trumpet Guild Conference, the National Opera Association Competition and regional and national NATS conventions. She has appeared in recital with members of the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Also an accomplished organist and harpsichordist, Dr. Puccinelli enjoys a wide variety of repertoire in her collaborations, from Baroque to twenty-first century literature.

An alumna of San Francisco Opera's Merola Program, Dr. Puccinelli spends her summers coaching professional and aspiring singers at the AIMS program in Graz, Austria and at the OperaWorks program in Los Angeles. She was twice invited to serve as rehearsal pianist for Seiji Ozawa at the Tanglewood Music Festival. Dr. Puccinelli, who holds a Masters of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Southern California, has a special interest in language: she also holds an undergraduate degree in French, and has served as language consultant for Martha Gerhart’s series Italian Song Texts from the 17th through the 20th Centuries for Leyerle Press. A published author on topics of song literature and collaborative piano techniques, Dr. Puccinelli completed her piano and collaborative studies under Alan L. Smith, with additional studies at the Music Academy of the West, with Gwendolyn Koldofsky.