This story was published June 1, 1995.
In the age of rock and rap, fine U.S. opera singers are rare, so it caused a stir when Samantha McElhaney was discovered recently in the practice studios of Suitland High School.
“She has the potential to be one of our great American opera singers,” said Elayne Duke, president of the Rosa Ponselle Foundation, an opera talent underwriting group outside Baltimore. “This [talent] maybe will come along once in our lifetime.”
“I would call her a wunderkind,” said Myra Merritt, a Metropolitan Opera soprano who has taught McElhaney. “She has one of those dramatic, heroic, epic, full-throated voices that comes along once in a lifetime.”
The object of all this effusion is a studious 17-year-old soprano from southern Prince George’s County. She is no pampered diva. In her senior year at Suitland, she drives herself to achieve good marks in biology, her favorite subject. Last year, she was one of the top high school shot-putters and discus throwers in the county. She can bench-press 185 pounds.
Most of all, she sings.
“I wake up and get in the shower, I’m singing,” she said. “I’m walking around the house, and I’m singing.”
At school, in addition to regular voice lessons, she spends her free time in the practice studio. Her teachers say McElhaney’s voice is a remarkable gift, but it would have remained the vocal equivalent of an uncut diamond if she had not poured enormous work and study into her singing. Her gift has become her responsibility.
“She’s very meticulous about her voice, her instrument,” said Ronald Johnson, coordinator of visual and performing arts at Suitland. “She takes a lot of care and pride in her instrument.”
McElhaney is one of many vocal talents nurtured at Suitland, which has a performing arts magnet program. The mellifluous singing in French and Italian that the audience hears during senior recitals is the most obvious clue that the rigorous art of opera is being passed down to a new generation.
“It is our opinion here at Suitland that our students must be versatile,” Johnson said. “Along with the spirituals [and other musical styles], we want to make sure our students have a very strong background in classical music.”
McElhaney’s relationship with music goes way back. She could talk before she was a year old, and she started singing soon after. Her nickname, Mandy, bestowed by her dad, comes from the Barry Manilow song of the same name.
The family lives in Clinton. Robin McElhaney, her mother, is executive assistant to the president of a trade association, and Samuel McElhaney, her father, is a technical information specialist for the State Department. McElhaney’s sister, Adrienne, 13, has been admitted to Suitland’s vocal program; she shows a talent for singing Broadway show tunes.
Growing up, McElhaney sang whenever the opportunity arose, in the middle school chorus, in the choir at Ebenezer AME Church in Fort Washington. Before she got to Suitland, music was just a hobby. Her main goal, even as a 12-year-old, was to make all the right moves that would lead to a good college. She considered music a means to that end. She realized she could use her singing to audition for Suitland’s academically challenging magnet program. She sang “Amazing Grace” and passed the audition.
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