Madeline Cain
Soprano, Leipzig DE
About Madeline Cain
Madeline has been widely praised as "a powerful and mature soprano." (DC Metro Theater Arts) A young dramatic singer entering the Wagner Fach, she also shines offering varied repertoire Mozart through Puccini; her work with art song and contemporary music is also in high demand. Madeline's flexible and rich voice allows her to explore many disciplines, as far-ranging as jazz, musical theater, and popular music.
The upcoming season brings a new role debut as Judith in Bluebeard's Castle, performed at Zimmt Leipzig in September. 2023 was Madeline's debut as Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer in a special concertante version produced by Sinfonia Leipzig. In May 2022, Madeline joined the Sinfonieorchester Bergisch Gladbach for a 3rd reprisal of the role of Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus. Shortly after, she performed as Freia and Wellgunde in a production of Der Ring in 100 Minuten, a brief and entertaining version of Wagner's Ring told with narration, in the Goethe-Theater in Bad Lauchstädt. In March 2021 Madeline was featured as Tosca in an experimental work by Lulu Obermayer, L'Opra Fatale, in which the murderesses of grand opera are examined. The piece was streamed from Schaubühne Lindenfels. In February 2019 she also performed the role of Rosalinde in collaboration with the Hochschule für Musik "Franz Liszt" in Weimar. Summer 2018 brought Madeline's role debut as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with the SommerOrchester Leipzig. Her European debut came in 2015 in the title role of Puccini's Suor Angelica, at the State Opera Stara Zagora and the State Opera Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and she reprised the role in 2016 both with the Prague Summer Nights Festival in Prague, Czech Republic, and with Capitol Opera Albany. Additional operatic roles include: Lady Billows/Albert Herring, Donna Elvira/Don Giovanni, Fiordiligi/Così fan tutte, and Ciesca/Gianni Schicchi.
Noted for her skill with contemporary music, Madeline is a founding member of the Contemporary Insights Ensemble based in Leipzig; with them, she regularly performs new works and commissions for chamber ensemble. In September 2023 she premiered LANGUAGES, a program of commissioned duets for soprano and accordion with duo partner Susanne Stock. As a founder and co-manager of Leipzig Underground Opera, she regularly performs and produces new imaginings of operatic, song, and musical theater repertoire. Their latest creation, HAGBOUND will premiere in December 2024, tackling the societal and political aspects of aging for women. Past productions include an evening of staged art songs on the topic of mental health, titled "Unhinged." Madeline also regularly performs with Leipziger Symphonieorchester, Sinfonia Leipzig, with her ensemble Trio Valde and with her duo partner, pianist Anni Laukkanen, throughout Germany.
Madeline was one of only 22 artists chosen from over 500 applicants to receive a work stipend from the City of Leipzig in 2024; the stipend will be used to develop her one woman show, Fat Cabaret. In January 2019 Madeline was seen and heard in Barcelona, singing as a finalist in the Tenor Viñas Competition hosted by the Gran Teatre del Liceu and competing for the Wagner Prize. As a finalist in the Grandi Voci Opera Competition, hosted by the Oper im Berg Festival in Salzburg, Austria in September 2018, Madeline was awarded the Verdi Prize and the Grace Bumbry Stipend Prize. She also competed in September 2018 as a quarter finalist in the International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, and was selected to compete for the Wagner Prize. The Leipzig Richard Wagner Stiftung granted Madeline a stipend to attend the Bayreuth Festspiel in the 2018 summer season, as a finalist prize in their Wagner Stiftung Competition. Madeline has received significant recognition in American competitions as well; among other first place honors, she was the 2016 Rochester Classical Idol 1st Prize Winner, and was also voted Audience Favorite. She has received 1st Place prizes from the Rochester Lyric Opera's LaDue competition and the Civic Morning Musicals competition in Syracuse, NY, and was a finalist in the Partners for the Arts vocal competition in Alexandria, VA.
A native of the central coast of California, Madeline is a graduate of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy" in Leipzig, Germany where she received her Meisterklasse degree, from the Maryland Opera Studio where she earned her Master's in Music, and a graduate of the Eastman School of Music with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. She has studied under vocal pedagogues Jeanette Favaro-Reuter, Elvira Dressen, Karen Holvik, Katherine Ciesinski, Linda Mabbs, and Jennifer Casey Cabot, and maintains her own vocal studio in Leipzig.
Recent Praise for Madeline Cain
" "Feuer, Lebenslust" schmettert die Sopranistin Madeline Cain den Czardas as der Johann Strauß Operette Die Fledermaus auf der Bühne in der Aula des Herkenrathers Gymnasiums - wirbelt über die Bühne, explodiert tatsächlich vor Lebenslust mit Stimme und Performance. Eine tolle Bühnenpräsenz hat die Leipzigerin..."
(trans.) " "Feuer, Lebenslust" belts out the soprano Madeline Cain the Czardas from the Johann Strass operetta "Die Fledermaus" on the stage in the auditorium of Herkenrath Gymnasium - whirling across the stage, actually exploding with lust for life with voice and performance. A great stage presence has the Leipzigerin ..."
-Kölnische Rundschau
"... die kalifornische Sopranistin Madeline Cain, die die Darbietungen mit ihrer kräftigen und ausdrucksstarken Stimme beeindruckend wie emotional begleitete."
(trans.) "... the Californian soprano Madeline Cain, who accompanied the performance with her powerful and expressive voice, impressively as well as emotionally."
-Kölnische Rundschau
“Mit großem Ernst [...] und in sinnendem Piano begann die US-Amerikanische Sopranistin Madeline Cain die Arie der Leonore 'Tacea la notte placida' aus Verdis 'Il Trovatore' und gestaltete dann mit ihrer vollblühenden Stimme große leidenschaftliche Aufschwünge [...].”
(trans.) “With great seriousness [...] and with a pensive piano began the American soprano Madeline Cain Leonora’s aria 'Tacea la notte placida' from Verdi’s 'Il Trovatore'; she then shaped large and passionate surges with her full-blooming voice [...].”
-Oberbayerische Volksblatt
"Wenn Madeline Cain die 'Julischka aus Budapest', den berühmten Marika-Rökk-Ohrwurm aus der 30er-Jahre-Operette 'Die Maske in Blau' singt, muss man ihr abnehmen, dass 'ihr Herz von Paprika' ist. Die US-Amerikanerin bringt das beliebte Lied von Fred Raymond mit solcher Leidenschaft, dass das Publikum nur so dahinschmiltzt. [...] Schon mit 'Klänge der Heimat', dem Auftrittslied der Rosalinde aus Johann Strauss jr. 'Fledermaus,' hatte sie ihr Publikum gefangen."
(trans.) "When Madeline Cain sings 'Julischka from Budapest,' the famous Marika-Rökk-earworm from the 1930's operetta 'Die Maske in Blau', you have to take away from it that her 'heart is full of paprika.' The American soprano brings this beloved song from Fred Raymond with such passion, that the audience melts to her. [...] With 'Klänge der Heimat,' the aria from Rosalinde from Johann Strauss Jr.'s 'Fledermaus' she had already captivated her audience."
-Höchster Kreisblatt
"So begeisterte sie auch im Volkshaus Sossenheim, insbesondere auch mit dem Lied „Die Juliska aus Budapest“. [...] Es war viel Begeisterung zu spüren und zu hören."
(trans.) "She also delighted in the Sossenheim Community Center, in particular with the song 'Julischka from Budapest.' [...] Lots of excitement was there to be felt and heard."
-Sossenheimer Wochenblatt
