Ruth Heley, lyric soprano, applies her musical talent to a number of different performing venues. Her opera and operetta credits include performances with the Connecticut Gilbert and Sullivan Society, the Western Plains Opera Company, the Bismarck-Mandan Civic Chorus and the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra. Her major roles include the Plaintiff, Trial by Jury; Diana, Orpheus in the Underworld; Anitra, Peer Gynt; Zerbina, La Serva Padrona; Prince Orlofsky, Die Fledermaus,; Cherubino, The Marriage of Figaro; The Second Lady, The Magic Flute; Gretel, Hansel and Gretel and Miss Silverpeal, The Impresario.

On the concert stage, she has been heard as soloist with such organizations as Minneapolis’s Theatre de la June Lune, where she performed new music for their production of Pelleus and Melisande as an off-stage vocalist. She has performed the soprano solos in J. S. Bach’s Magnificat, Handel’s Messiah, Saint-Saën’s Christmas Oratorio, the Rutter Requiem and Schubert’s Mass in G Major. Heley is a strong advocate of art song performance. She has presented numerous recital programs in Dickinson, Bismarck, Fargo and small towns throughout Southwestern ND. Heley’s first CD recording, A Sprig of Thyme—A Collection of Irish and English Folk Song, was released in 2004.

HHeley received a Bachelor of Music in Opera from the Hartt School of Music in West Hartford, CT. She has received additional training from the Wesley Balk Music Theater Institute in Minneapolis, MN. Heley received Honorable Mention at the North Dakota Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions in 2000 and has been awarded 1st and 2nd place at the Graduate Level of the ND National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition in 2001 and 2002. She is an active member of the North Dakota National Federation of Music Clubs and has been a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing since 2004. She has maintained a private voice studio since 1999 and has served as Adjunct Lecturer of Music at Dickinson State University since 2002.