Shelly O'Hara-Tapp
Director Musical Theater 360
Soprano
Originally from Washington, Pennsylvania, soprano Shelly O'Hara-Tapp obtained her degrees from The Cleveland Institute of Music at Case Western, Shenandoah Conservatory, and the Mannes College of Music in New York City. She has also studied at the Chautauqua Institute, the DaCapo Opera Theatre in New York, and the Daniel Ferro Julliard Vocal Program in Greve, Chianti, Italy.
Ms. O'Hara-Tapp has performed roles in opera, oratorio, and Broadway in the United States, Germany, France, England and Italy. She was a regular soloist for the Washington, D.C. Oratorio Society, performing under the baton of Robert Shafer at the Kennedy Center, as well as at Trinity Church, Wall Street, New York. Some of her operatic roles include Queen of the Night from Mozart's Magic Flute, Handel's Semele, Bellini's Giulietta, along with soprano solos in Handel's Messiah, Vivaldi's Gloria, and Faure's Requiem.
She was a recipient of the Wagner Young Artist Award, and a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions. As a winner in the New York Liederkranz Competition, she performed at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. She includes among her teachers and coaches Ruth Falcon, Beth Roberts, Renato Scotto, Nico Castel, Julianne Baird, Jackson Sheats, George Vassos,and Elly Ameling, the last with whom she was on the agent roster of Sheldon Soffer, New York City.
Ms. O'Hara-Tapp has led musical programs, maintained private voice studios, and taught music at the elementatry level in the New York, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh areas. Ms. O'Hara-Tapp has worked extensively with students from The Staten Island Children's Theater as well as other local theater companies. Her students have been accepted at major conservatories in New York City and Boston. She moved to the Pittsburgh area in 2007, where she maintained a private voice studio and was on the faculty at Providence Heights Alpha School. At the Alpha School, where she taught grades K-8 and directed the Concert Choir, Ms. O'Hara-Tapp also started the Musical Theater 360 program.
Ms. O'Hara Tapp has returned to the Bucks County Area where she teaches and performs locally. She is also the director of the Musical Theater 360 program which will begin in January of 2012 at St. Andrew's School in Newtown. Ms. O'Hara-Tapp resides in Newtown with her husband, and two children.