Beverly Sills award winner Angela Meade returns to sing ‘Ernani’ at the Metropolitan Opera Soprano has come a long way from Centralia, Wash., and singing in community college February 2, 2012 By Joe Dziemianowicz

Opera soprano Angela Meade, like everyone who lives in New York, has her favorite neighborhood haunts.

One of them is Alice’s Tea Cup, on W. 73rd St., where her drink of choice is the chocolate chai brew.

“It’s rich and creamy,” she says, “a delicious little treat.”

Monday, the 34-year-old rising-star got a tasty, supersized treat: She won the Beverly Sills Artist Award, which comes with a $50,000 prize.

The laurel, given to young singers who’ve already appeared in featured roles at Metropolitan Opera, was the latest flash in Meade’s fast-rising career.

The announcement came as the upper West Sider was preparing to return to the Met on Feb. 2 in the role of Elvira in Verdi’s “Ernani,” the part that marked her professional debut four years ago.

Revisiting Elvira, who’s pursued by three men, she says, “is definitely a deja vu feeling.”

No wonder. It’s the same character, stage and co-stars, including Marcello Giordani (Ernani) and Ferruccio Furlanetto (Silva, her uncle).

But before she was covering the role and pinched-hit for an ailing colleague. Now’s she in a fully-groomed multiperformance showcase.

“In 2008, they called me the day before I went on,” says Meade, who was a third-year student at Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts at the time.

“It was a whirlwind,” Meade says. “When it was over, I said, ‘Did that just happen?’”

It did.

And her superb singing of Elvira’s notoriously tricky arias put her on the fast track to stardom.

She had previously sung on the Met stage as one of the winners of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera national Council Auditions.

“The day after I won, I was asked to cover the role of Elvira,” she says.

In the past three years, she’s become a Met regular. Credits include the Countess in “Le Nozze di Figaro” in 2009 and the title role of “Anna Bolena” earlier this season. She followed Anna Netrebko in the role.

She also sang in Brooklyn Bridge Park and at Summer Stage as part of the company’s recital series in summer 2011.

Other triumphs include “Norma” at the Caramoor Festival in Katonah and “Virginia” at the Wexford Festival in Europe.

Impressive accomplishments for a girl from Centralia, Wash., who played flute and clarinet as a kid. She started singing at a local community college when she was 20 and later studied voice at Pacific Lutheran University and Philly’s AVA.

She went on to triumph in a remarkable number of vocal competitions.

Her go-to aria? “Casta diva” from “Norma.”

“I’ve won about 57 of them,” she says, adding that all those victories got awkward. “People starting saying things like, ‘If you’re competing, I’m not even going to bother.’”

Whatever.

So what’s Meade’s secret to success? “I try not to be wrapped up in all the anxiety that can come with performing,” she says. “The closer you get to stage time, the more nervous some people get. I don’t. I love what I do. What’s there to be nervous about? This is fun.”

You Should Know

“Ernani” also runs Feb. 6, 10, 14, 18 and 25, when it will be broadcast live in HD. Tickets and more information at metoperafamily.org.