Malinda Wagstaff has been hailed as “a voice to keep listening for” (Spokesman-Review). In the 2026 season, Malinda was featured as Rosalinde in OperaBend’s production of “Die Fledermaus.” She then spent the summer as a studio artist at the renowned Aspen Music Festival, where she performed in scenes from “Idomeneo” (Elettra) “Don Giovanni” (Donna Anna), “The Consul” (Magda), and “Die Fledermaus” (Rosalinde). In the fall, after covering Rosalinde for Inland Northwest Opera’s “Die Fledermaus,” Malinda will perform at Seattle Opera’s Open House as one of the featured winners of the Seattle Opera Guild competition.
In 2025, Ms. Wagstaff joined Festival Napa Valley’s Manetti Shrem Opera Studio, performing in scenes from “Fidelio” and “Ariadne auf Naxos” and training with Angela Meade, Martin Katz, Noah Lindquist, and more. She also premiered the role of Venus in the prologue of Jake Heggie’s “The Judgement of Paris.” She was featured as an emerging artist with Opera Bend, with performances of arias from “Tannhäuser,” “Die Fledermaus,” and “Tosca.”
A regular performer in the Pacific Northwest, Ms. Wagstaff recently performed the titular role in Tosca for the Seattle Opera Guild’s season preview event. She also performed with Puget Sound Concert Opera as Medora in “Il Corsaro” and in the season preview with scenes from “Il Corsaro” and “Fidelio.” Malinda was a featured soloist with the Spokane Symphony for their performances of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Ralph Vaughan Williams’s “A Sea Symphony.” Of her performance of the Vaughan Williams, the Spokesman-Review said Malinda “took on the challenges of Vaughan Williams’ writing for the solo soprano and vanquished every one.”
Ms. Wagstaff earned her master of music degree from Indiana University while studying with Carol Vaness and her bachelor of music from the Eastman School of Music under the tutelage of Ruth Hennessy, with whom she continues to work. While at Indiana University, she performed as Mutter in “Hänsel und Gretel” and First Lady in “Die Zauberflöte.” Opera workshop performances included scenes from “Manon Lescaut” and “Tosca.”
No stranger to the competition circuit, Malinda holds multiple encouragement awards from the Metropolitan Opera Laffont competition, as well as first prize awards in the Seattle Opera Guild (2024), Coeur d’Alene Symphony Young Artist (2020), and Musicfest Northwest Competitions (2023). Additionally, Malinda was awarded the Bel Canto prize at the Oprheus Vocal Competition (2024) and 2nd and 3rd place in the Seattle Opera Guild Competition.