M A R Y B E T H
NELSON ZAROS
mezzo-soprano
| Metropolitan Opera Debut: El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego | Live in HD Broadcast May 30, 2026
| Metropolitan Opera Debut: El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego | Live in HD Broadcast May 30, 2026
Biography
MARY BETH NELSON ZAROS is an American mezzo-soprano praised for her “richness of tone and flexibility, along with her impeccable agility on stage,” as noted by the American Handel Society. This spring, she makes her Metropolitan Opera principal artist debut in El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego. Recent appearances include the closing of the 150th season of Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall, performing as Micah in Handel’s Samson, and at the Santa Fe Opera in Rigoletto and Le Nozze di Figaro.
Ms. Zaros has performed with notable opera companies and symphonic institutions, including The Metropolitan Opera, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Wolf Trap Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Juilliard Opera, Utah Opera, the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera Delaware, Florida Grand Opera, Opera Las Vegas, Opera Baltimore, Tri-Cities Opera, Painted Sky Opera, and Houston Grand Opera.
A recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation, Ms. Zaros has earned accolades from the Gerda Lissner Foundation, the Fort Worth McCammon Voice Competition, and the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Ms. Zaros is also a proud alumna of Oklahoma City University and The Juilliard School, where she was awarded a Kovner Fellowship, named a FENDI Vanguard Scholar, and was featured in L’OFFICIEL, one of the most influential fashion magazines in the world.
Beyond her performing career, Ms. Zaros is dedicated to making a positive impact. Through her work with Voices for Bolivia, a non-profit organization that provides relief to elderly individuals living in extreme poverty through the power of classical music, and by regularly engaging with her good friends at her local senior center, Ms. Zaros is committed to using music to foster connection, inspire healing, and support those in need. She believes that music has the unique ability to heal, connect, and inspire positive change.
For more updates, follow Ms. Zaros on Instagram and YouTube: @marybethnelsonzaros.
El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego
Marty Sohl / Metropolitan Opera
The Breeches Collection
“In a pants role, mezzo-soprano Mary Beth Nelson offered a charming take on the crushingly dorky and perpetually friend-zoned Siébel, skillfully girding the young rival’s nervous voice with a thin rod of earnest nobility.”
Michael Andor Brodeur. The Washington Post
“… ardent, focused, von-Staden mezzo.”
Joanne Sydney Lessner, Opera News
“In many ways, the most satisfying performance of the afternoon came from mezzo-soprano Mary Beth Nelson as Meleagro. Her richness of tone and flexibility, along with her impeccable Italian and agility on stage, made her characterization the most expressive and sympathetic overall.”
Mark Risinger, American Handel Society
"Nelson sang with virtuosic abandon… joyous flair and assured beauty of tone."
Opera Today
Concert and Oratorio
“Mezzo-soprano Mary Beth Nelson handled this understated but key role with superb dexterity and supple gravitas.”
Jon Sobel, Blog Critics
“Mezzo-soprano Mary Beth (Nelson) Zaros set a high standard with a silvery-smoky tone in the first of several recitative-aria sequences for alto. Her ‘Erbarme dich’ aria was sublimely ethereal.”
Blog Critics
Beyond the Stage
GRAVITAS PODCAST
On Gravitas’s first episode, Ms. Zaros and Anna Fata Shemin dove into opera, doubt, discipline, and the quiet pockets of beauty between rehearsals. They traded funny, honest stories—late-night score study, self-doubt turned focus, and comforting rituals. They explored truth onstage and off: how a single phrase can hold a life, how a calm morning can rival the final curtain, and how vulnerability and discipline dance together. It’s about the luminous, messy, sacred moments that make an artist and a person.
ON RECORD
with Gemma New and the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. Music by Paul Frehner and words by Dane Swan and Charles Mingus. Available to stream on Spotify, Youtube, and more.
VOICES FOR BOLIVIA
Founded by Shelén Hughes Camacho, Voices for Bolivia is a human services non-profit focused on elderly assistance, advocating for dignity, care, and shelter as fundamental human rights.
STUDIO
Beyond her work on the stage, Ms. Zaros is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of artists through private studio instruction and collegiate master classes.
Her pedagogical approach emphasizes a sustainable, healthy technique that balances technical precision with authentic dramatic storytelling. Drawing from her experience in both cornerstone and contemporary repertoire, she provides singers with practical tools for vocal agility and professional longevity. Ms. Zaros is currently accepting online students and is available for guest master class bookings.