Performance — Natalia Romero Arbeláez

I consider myself a teaching artist: it is in pursuit of opportunities to collaborate and create that I am my best self. My favorite projects are those drawn from communal experiences that directly engage audiences.

I live in two very different worlds;

Classical music is my love, but musical theater is my passion.

I work primarily as a classical soprano and can be found singing with Border CrosSing, and the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers. I thrive in musical communities that explore culturally relevant repertoire and think outside the choral box. I take pride in my ability to adapt in style and repertoire and especially love Latin and South American folk music.

Outside of classical music, I am a musical theater artist. I spend my summers working as faculty for the GreenRoom fellowship at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts. I love the intersection of emotion and text that is so unique to musical theater. I’ve worked as a music director and a vocal director with many kinds of groups, but I am especially happy when I get to work with young adults. I bring a strong knowledge of Bel Canto singing as well as contemporary musical theater skills and walk into every rehearsal ready to help all singers find their healthiest voice.

Learn more about my work below.

Performance Samples

Past Performances

STAGE: A Twin Cities PBS Original

Get a front row seat in discovering what makes the Minnesota music scene so unique. Join host Natalia Romero Arbeláez, a performer, educator, and musician, as she takes in world class performances at exciting Twin Cities venue and gets exclusive access to the creators behind the music. Become a fan of a wide variety of local music and find new inspiration, connection, and joy.
Natalia was the host for Season 2 of STAGE. Off-screen, Natalia collaborated with Twin Cities Public Television to develop curriculum for PBS Learning Media focused on Season 2 and Season 3 of STAGE.
Natalia received a Regional Emmy Nomination for the America Roots Revue Episode of STAGE!
Border CrosSing

Ahmed Anzaldúa, Founder & Director
Natalia is in her seventh season of performing with Border CrosSing in the Puentes Ensemble.
Established in 2018, Border CrosSing aims to integrate historically-segregated audiences and musicians through the performance of choral music. Border CrosSing envision a landscape where singers and audiences more closely reflect the racial and cultural composition of the Twin Cities.
Natalia is drawn to Border CrosSing’s mission and to the creative and intentional programming. She has had the opportunity to perform rarely heard pieces such as Sensemayá, Navidad Nuestra and Alfonsina Y El Mar.
Natalia’s ultimate (musical and life) highlight was performing La Pasión Según San Marcos with La Schola Cantorum de Venezuela, Minnesota Orchestra and Minnesota Chorale under the direction of María Guinand. She was featured as a soloist in Judas Y El Cordero Pascual (pictured on the left).
VocalEssence Ensemble Singers

Philip Brunelle, Founder & Artistic Director
Natalia is in her sixth season of singing with the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers.
“Established 1991, our 32-voice professional choir is known as one of Minnesota’s most highly trained, experienced and professional group of singers.”
Natalia has enjoyed a wide range of musical performances, ranging from Vaughan Williams’s Mass in G minor to “Rolling in the Wind” Steve Hoffman’s imaginative 90 minute rescoring of Bob Dylan’s music. Other favorites include Navidad Mexicana, Psalm 151 (John Høybye) and Hands by Jocelyn Hagen.
One of the highlights of performing with the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers was participating in the premiere of Nico Muhly’s “The Faire Starre”.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Musical by Rachel Sheinkin and William Finn. Woodbury Community Theater, 2018
An eclectic group of six mid-pubescents vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. Six spellers enter; one speller leaves! At least the losers get a juice box. Natalia performed the role of Olive Ostrovsky.
Director: Andrew Smith
Music Director: Haley Garland
Choreographer: Nicholas Oyen

Directing Portfolio

Twelfth Night

Named one of the best theatrical productions of 2018 by Time, The Hollywood Reporter and The Washington Post, Twelfth Night is a rousing contemporary musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy about mistaken identity and self-discovery.
Twelfth Night tells the story of Viola, a young heroine who washes up on the shores of Illyria, disguises herself as a man, is sent to court a countess and falls hard for a Duke. As she navigates this strange and wonderful new land, she finds her true self and true love in the process.
Director: Taous Khazem
Music Director: Natalia Romero Arbeláez
Pit Director: Brian Lukkasson
Choreographer: Sandy Agustin
The Addams Family: School Edition

THE ADDAMS FAMILY, a comical feast that embraces the wackiness in every family, features an original story and it’s every father’s nightmare: Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family– a man her parents have never met. And if that wasn’t upsetting enough, Wednesday confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before– keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents.
Director: Taous Khazem
Music Director: Natalia Romero Arbeláez
Pit Director: Brian Lukkasson
Choreographer: Sandy Agustin
In the Heights

In the Heights tells the universal story of a vibrant community in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood – a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It’s a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind.
Out of all the productions I've done, this was the one nearest and dearest to my heart. This was my first foray into music directing and where I fell in love with musical theater as an art form. In The Heights was a powerful experience as it was the first time I'd seen an immigrant story (similar to mine!) onstage.
Director: Karen Peterson Wilson
Music Director: Natalia Romero Arbeláez
Choreographer: Joe Cook & James Kunz
Image © Heidi Bohnenkamp
Big Fish

Based on the celebrated novel by Daniel Wallace and the acclaimed Columbia Pictures film directed by Tim Burton, BIG FISH centers on Edward Bloom, a traveling salesman who lives life to its fullest… and then some! Big Fish served as my senior capstone performance. The production featured some innovative tech elements and was featured at USITT for the tech and design elements involved.
Director: Karen Peterson Wilson
Music Director: Natalia Romero
Choreographer: Heidi Spesard-Noble
Image © Heidi Bohnenkamp
Peter and the Star Catcher

Peter and the Starcatcher is a wild story involving pirates, mermaids, an alligator and so much more. Bringing this musical to life at Harding took many hands…and involved many roles. In this production, I served as the music director, sound designer and costumer.
Director: Tim Coleman
Assistant Director: Blaine Grady Music Director: Natalia Romero
A Funny Thing Happened…

Broadway's greatest farce is light, fast-paced, witty, irreverent and one of the funniest musicals ever written. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum takes comedy back to its roots, combining situations from time-tested, 2000-year-old comedies of Roman playwright, Plautus, with the infectious energy of classic vaudeville.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a nonstop laughfest in which Pseudolus struggles to win the hand of a beautiful, but slow-witted, courtesan named Philia for his young master, Hero, in exchange for freedom. The plot twists and turns with cases of mistaken identity, slamming doors and a showgirl or two.
My first collaboration with Lakeshore Players in White Bear Lake and a terrifying one. Their Music Director dropped the production two weeks in and I was handed a Sondheim score and asked to learn it over the course of a weekend! To date, this is the funniest show I've ever participated in.
Director: Paul Reyburn
Music Director: Natalia Romero Arbeláez
Choreographer: Hannah Weinberger