Winner of the 2021 Louis Sudler Prize in the Performing and Creative Arts from Yale University and recipient of a 2020 Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Lisl Wangermann is a soprano who has performed with the CIM Opera Theater, Opera Western Reserve, the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, the Opera Theatre of Yale College, and the Yale Baroque Opera Project. In 2023, Lisl was a semifinalist for the Dallas Opera’s Lone Star Vocal Competition, a finalist for the Nightingale Young Artist Competition, and won the Max Berman Prize in Voice from the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2023, she also portrayed the roles of Blanche (Dialogues des Carmélites) and Alcina (Alcina) with the CIM Opera Theater and performed two scenes from new operas as part of the Cleveland Composers Guild’s 2023 “Opera Scenes” program, a collaboration with the Cleveland Chamber Orchestra. She also performed a recital featuring songs by Liza Lehmann, Hanns Eisler, and Kurt Weill, among others.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio but raised in Dallas, Texas, Lisl began her opera studies at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts under the guidance Nathan De’Shon Myers, Gloria Stephens, and Alexander Rom. She went on to attend Yale University. During her time on campus, Lisl studied art song with Professor Richard Lalli and coach Sara Kohane. Every semester, she performed in two recitals featuring songs by diverse range of composers, including but not limited to Rogers and Hart, Ivor Gurney, Korngold, Sibelius, Stenhammer, Rebecca Clarke, and Dominic Argento. At Yale, Lisl was also introduced to the wonderful world of Baroque music and historical performance. She played a small role in the Yale Baroque Opera Project’s 2018 performance of Cavalli’s L’Egisto, directed by Dustin Wills and music directed by Grant Herreid. In 2019, she played Eurydice in YBOP’s production of Luigi Rossi’s Orfeo, directed by Toni Dorfman and music directed by Grant Herreid.

During her time at Yale, she also became involved in the Opera Theatre of Yale College. After her first year, when she stage managed Gallantry and performed in Donizetti’s obscure work Viva La Mamma, Lisl helped expand OTYC’s season from two to four shows. In her second year, she directed Menotti’s The Telephone, produced John Blow’s Venus and Adonis, and played Madeline in Debussy’s unfinished work La chute de la Maison Usher. During her third year (and final year on campus), Lisl served as the Managing Director of OTYC. She produced Rameau’s Pygmalion, played Della in David Conte’s 1997 opera The Gift of the Magi, and directed Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience before the pandemic sent everyone home. A complete list of the projects Lisl was involved in at Yale can be found here.

Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, Lisl and her OTYC collaborators, Katharine Li and Vivian Mayers, were able to create a virtual production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, with Lisl performing the role of Dido. She was also able to participate in the virtual 2020 Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions and received an encouragement award from the South Carolina District. Lisl was inducted to the Yale Phi Beta Kappa chapter in the fall of 2020. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Music in December of 2020 and graduated magna cum laude. She received in the Louis Sudler Prize in the Performing and Visual Arts in May of 2021.

In 2021, Lisl returned to her roots, moving to Cleveland to study at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Dina Kuznetsova. During her first year in Cleveland, she served as the Resident Director at CIM, fostering a supportive and warm environment for first- and second-year students. She also served as the Student Ambassador for Apollo’s Fire, where she marketed upcoming performances to students and assisted box office staff at concerts. In 2022, Lisl left her position in the dorm and became the Development Assistant at Apollo’s Fire, a position she stayed in until early 2024. At the same time, in her second year at CIM, she played the roles of Cendrillon (Massenet’s Cendrillon) and Blanche (Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites), a role the Lisl hopes to reprise. She graduated with her master’s degree in May of 2023 and began the Artist Diploma program at CIM that fall.

In 2024, Lisl played the role of Rosalinde in CIM Opera Theater’s production of Die Fledermaus. In the summer of 2024, Lisl had the honor of working as a Statistin in the Salzburger Festspiele’s production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann, directed by Mariame Clement and designed by Julia Hansen.

In March of this year, Lisl co-founded Park City Opera with long-time friends and collaborators, Benjamin Beckman and Lena Goldstein. The non-profit’s goal is to create opera inspired by and in collaboration with the beautiful natural and cultural landscape of Park City, Utah.