Mary-Jean Anaïs O'Doherty is an Australian-American

coloratura soprano A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs, leaps and trills. The term '' coloratura'' refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component o ...

. She was the first prize winner in the 2013

Paris Opera Awards The Paris Opera Awards (POA) is an international contest for opera singers held in Paris, France. It is held under the patronage of the French representation at the European Commission. History The first edition of POA was launched in March 2012 ...

Life and career

O'Doherty was born in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Texas, to an Australian father and an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

mother, Eliza Basmadjian, from Greece. She was educated at North Carolina School of the Arts and

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

from which she received her

Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of prescr ...

degree in voice and flute performance as well as

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in psychology in 2005. She was one of the 20 finalists in the 2006

Operatunity Oz ''Operatunity Oz'' was a 2006 talent search, and accompanying four-part television documentary by Simon Target, in which Opera Australia conducted a nationwide quest to find someone without professional opera experience, who could be coached to ...

talent search. O'Doherty won the ABC Symphony Australia Young Vocalist Award in 2007 and the following year was the first recipient of the Australian International Opera Award which included a scholarship to study at the

Cardiff International Academy of Voice The Wales International Academy of Voice ( cy, Academi Llais Ryngwladol Cymru) was established by its founder, the Welsh tenor Dennis O'Neill CBE, to provide advanced voice, music and drama coaching to young professional opera singers from all ...

under the direction of Dennis O'Neill."Mary-Jean O'Doherty winner of 2008 Australian International Opera Award"
''Bravo!'', October 2008, Australian International Opera Awards. Retrieved 10 June 2014. and was also awarded a prize by the

Tait Memorial Trust The Tait Memorial Trust MTis a charitable foundation, first established in the United Kingdom, with the chief purpose of providing financial support to outstanding young performing artists from Australia and New Zealand who wish to pursue post-gr ...

to assist with her studies in Cardiff. Shortly after completing her

post-graduate diploma A postgraduate diploma (PgD, PgDip, PGDip, PG Dip., PGD, Dipl. PG, PDE) is a postgraduate qualification awarded after a university degree, which supplements the original degree and awards them with a graduate diploma. Countries that award postg ...

there in 2010, she sang the title role in '' Lucia di Lammermoor'' at the

Prague State Opera The State Opera (Czech: Státní opera) is an opera house in Prague, Czech Republic. It is part of the National Theatre of the Czech Republic, founded by Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic in 1992. The theatre itself originally opened in ...

and reprised the role with the company the following season. In November 2011, she made her

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

debut as a concert artist performing in

Raymond Gubbay Raymond Jonathan Gubbay, CBE (born 2 April 1946) is a British impresario, active primarily in London, the UK, and Europe. He has worked with classical artists including Anna Netrebko, Jonas Kaufmann, Bryn Terfel, Joseph Calleja, Rolando Villaz ...

's ''Classical Spectacular''. In March 2015, it was announced that O'Doherty would be a member of the Armenian group

Genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...

in their entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2015. Along with the other foreign members of Genealogy, she received an

Armenian passport Armenian passport ( hy, Հայկական անձնագիր, Haykakan andznagir) is a passport issued to Armenian citizens to enable them to travel outside Armenia, and entitles the bearer to the protection of Armenia's consular officials oversea ...

from President

Serzh Sargsyan Serzh Azati Sargsyan ( hy, Սերժ Ազատի Սարգսյան, ; born 30 June 1954)Of ...

on 28 April 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ODoherty, Mary-Jean Living people Musicians from Houston Australian operatic sopranos American operatic sopranos American people of Australian descent American people of Armenian descent American people of Greek descent Citizens of Armenia through descent Australian people of Armenian descent Australian people of Greek descent 21st-century American women opera singers Classical musicians from Texas Genealogy (band) members Singers from Texas Armenian people of American descent Armenian people of Australian descent Armenian people of Greek descent Year of birth missing (living people)