Ariya Lynchee Sawadivong, a native of Asheville, NC, is a recent graduate of  The Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia, PA where she studied with soprano, Ruth Golden.  She previously earned her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), where she studied voice with Dr. James Bumgardner. 

While at AVA she performed many leading roles including the title roles in Janacek's Kat'a Kabanova and  Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, Suzel in L’amico Fritz, Woglinde and Wellgunde in Das Rheingold, Despina in Cosi fan tutte, and Gilda in Rigoletto, as well as covered the roles of Anna in Le Villi, Mimi and Musetta in La Boheme, and Pousette in Massenet's Manon.  She has also performed the role of Fiordiligi in Cosi fan tutte at UNCG, of which William Thomas Walker of Classical Voice North Carolina said, “Ariya Lynchee Sawadivong was breath-taking as Fiordiligi, bringing her character completely to life, wholly dramatizing every movement and interaction, and delivering her arias superbly.” 

In addition to operatic roles, Ms. Sawadivong has performed Bruckner’s Te Deum, with the Greensboro Choral Society, as well as Rutter’s Requiem, with the Asheville Choral Society.  She is also in her fourth season with the Concert Operetta Theater of Philadelphia, where she regularly performs in a series of Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy concerts. 

In 2004 she placed second in the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition where she performed in the grand winner’s concert with the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Kamal Khan.  That same year she won an encouragement award at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.  Most recently she won third place in the Mario Lanza competition in Philadelphia, and was a finalist in both the Parkinson competition and the Loren L. Zachary competition National Vocal Competition. 

Upcoming performances include the soprano soloist in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana  in February 2009, the soprano soloist in Verdi's Requiem in April, 2009,  and Mimi in La Boheme with Intermountain Opera Association in Bozeman, MT next May.