Internationally acclaimed soprano Alison Trainer is a gifted singing actress, who has garnered top prizes in major vocal competitions and continues to gain recognition for her vocal beauty, sensitive and intelligent musicianship, and compelling stage presence. Alison received glowing reviews for her European debut as Fiakermilli in Arabella in St. Gallen, Switzerland: The St. Galler Nachrichten raved, “Completely amazing were the vocal acrobatics of Fiakermilli, sung by Alison Trainer with virtuosic and sparkling coloratura.” Over the past 6 seasons at Theater St. Gallen, Alison has successfully debuted major roles of the coloratura repertoire such as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Gilda in Rigoletto, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, Lisa in Gräfin Mariza, and Walther in La Wally.

Before beginning her European career, Ms. Trainer performed as a soloist with New York City Opera, New Jersey Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Tulsa Opera, Asheville Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, Pennsylvania Symphony & Ballet, Sinfonie St. Gallen, and the National Chorale in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. For her performance as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, the Baltimore Sun hailed Alison “a convincing actress with a voice of radiant beauty.” For her debut with New York City Opera as the Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel, The New York Times named her a "standout artist to watch with a well-wielded soprano voice."

An avid recitalist, Ms. Trainer has performed in recital at the Tanglewood Music Festival, the Cleveland Art Song Festival, the Warebrook Contemporary Music Festival, San Francisco Opera Center's prestigious Schwabacher Recital Series, Glimmerglass Opera, Josyln Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska, Trinity Church on Wall Street, and the Southeastern Festival of Song.

Ms. Trainer was a national semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Competition, first place winner in New York City's Liederkranz Competition, second place winner of the Opera Index Competition, and was the top prize winner in New York City’s Sullivan Foundation Competition. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Music and Sociology degree from Indiana University, a Master of Music degree from Cincinnati Conservatory, a Performer's Certificate from the Opera Institute at Boston University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Stony Brook University. She has been an apprentice artist with Glimmerglass Opera and San Francisco Opera’s Merola program, and a vocal fellow at Tanglewood Music Festival and Aspen Music Festival. Dr. Trainer has maintained an international voice studio in Zürich, Switzerland since 2010, and in the fall of 2017, she joined the faculty at Furman University in Greenville, SC as an Assistant Professor of Voice. She is frequently a guest artist teacher at Greenville's Fine Arts Center and the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts, and is a sought-after masterclass clinician and artist-in-residence at universities around the country.

Honors

Theater St. Gallen “Debut Artist of the Year” 2009
First Place Winner, Sullivan Foundation Grant, 2006
Metropolitan Opera National Semi-Finalist, (1st place Northeast Region) 2005
First Place Winner, Liederkranz Foundation Competition, New York, NY, 2005
Second Place, Opera Index, New York, NY, 2005

Education

• D.M.A from Stony Brook University, 2015
• Performer's Certificate from the Opera Institute at Boston University
• M.M., in Vocal Performance, from Cincinnati Conservatory, 1998
• B.A., in Sociology and Music from Indiana University, 1996