Evelyn Mandac was the first, and still is the only, Filipina to sing major roles at the Metropolitan Opera. Moreover, she broke the glass ceiling by performing not only leading roles in standard repertoire but also in operas by significant 20th century composers. Her five American premieres include two at Juilliard, The Mines of Sulphur by Rodney Bennett and Passaggio by Luciano Berio in New York (which she then performed in Turino, Italy with the RAI Orchestra), and three professional ones, L'Ormindo by Francesco Cavalli at the Washington National Opera, Bassarids by Hans Werner Henze at Sante Fe Opera, and the first staged US production of George Frideric Handel's Rinaldo with Marilyn Horne at Houston Opera. Her two world professional premieres were operas written by Thomas Pasatieri inspired by both her voice and dramatic prowess, Ines de Castro at the Baltimore Opera and Black Widow at the Seattle Opera with Jennie Tourel. The significant role of Liù to Birgit Nilsson’s Princess in Turandot opened up worldwide engagements. She has performed at major companies in the United States, France, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Italy and Canada, in various prestigious music festivals such as Salzburg Festival, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Holland Opera Festival, the Promenade Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, and the Robin Hood Dell in Philadelphia, with famous conductors including the legendary Herbert von Karajan, James Levine, Seiji Ozawa, Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta, and Eugene Ormandy, and with prominent opera singers during her illustrious career, besides those mentioned above, including Placido Domingo, Sherill Milnes, Shirley Verrett, Frederica von Stade, Kiri Te Kanawa, and Richard Tucker. She also made her TV debut appearance as Lisa in Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades in the first opera adaptation made for the National Education Television. A young Filipina with little opera experience, she managed to break invisible barriers in the opera world in the late 1960s and beyond. As Asian and minority women empowering themes gain importance in today’s social landscape of America, the story of Evelyn Mandac becomes more significant to share, record, and document. 

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