Elizabeth McCune (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Ford; born March 19, 1986), known professionally as Elizabeth Zharoff, is an American

YouTuber A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006 ...

, video game

sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating auditory elements of media. It involves specifying, acquiring and creating audio using production techniques and equipment or software. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking ...

er, and

opera singer Opera is a form of Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a lib ...

. After largely putting her operatic career on hold, she devoted herself to the topics of voice and singing on her YouTube channel, "The Charismatic Voice". She works primarily as a voice coach and singer and

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

video game soundtracks Video game music (VGM) is the soundtrack that accompanies video games. Early video game music was once limited to sounds of early sound chips, such as programmable sound generators (PSG) or FM synthesis chips. These limitations have led to the ...

. She also interviews rock vocalists. Her YouTube channel, , has over 402million views and over 1.84million subscribers.

Life and education

Elizabeth Zharoff grew up in

Wenatchee, Washington Wenatchee ( ) is the county seat and most populous city of Chelan County, Washington, Chelan County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population within the city limits in 2010 was 31,925, and has increased to 35,508 as of 2020. ...

, where she attended Wenatchee High School. She spent a year in France after high school, before enrolling at

Pacific Lutheran University Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a Private university, private Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congreg ...

in 2005. In 2007 she transferred to the

Oberlin Conservatory of Music The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music school, music conservatory of Oberlin College, a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the ...

Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located about southwest of Cleveland within the Cleveland metropolitan area. The population was 8,555 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin ...

, from which she earned a bachelor's degree in vocal performance in 2009. While still a student at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Zharoff took part in several prestigious music competitions and made her debut as a soloist at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

in 2009. In the same year she reached the semi-finals of the

Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition (formerly the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions) is an annual singing competition sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera. Established in 1954, its purpose is to discover, assist ...

and two years later reached the final of the

Queen Elisabeth Competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition (, ) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in City of Brussels, Brussels. The competition is named after Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium (1876–1 ...

. In 2012 she completed a master's degree in opera singing from the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, a Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on a full scholarshi ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Zharoff is married and lives in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

with her husband, Kirk McCune, and their son, Mycroft. On 2 November 2024, Zharoff announced in a video on her YouTube channel that she was expecting her second son with McCune. The couple's second son, Kaladin, was born on April 19, 2025.

Career

Opera

After initial engagements at the Opera Philadelphia, Zharoff was a member of the Young Ensemble of the

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

Semperoper The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the Th ...

in the 2012/13 season, where she sang Pamina in Mozart's ''

Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

'' and Violetta in Verdi's '' La traviata''. In addition to embodying other

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

roles at various opera houses, she appeared on the concert stage with the

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". T ...

and performed a chamber piece composed for her by

Richard Danielpour Richard Danielpour (born January 28, 1956) is an American composer and academic, currently affiliated with the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of California, Los Angeles. Early life Danielpour was born in New York City of Persian Jew ...

. In the 2013/14 season she made her debut as Giunia in '' Lucio Silla'' at the Opéra National de Bordeaux. Ingrid Gerk praised a performance by Zharoff in an otherwise disappointing production of ''La traviata'' at the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is a British opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in E ...

in 2015: She said of her own performance of Violetta in ''La Traviata'':

YouTube

In August 2014, Zharoff launched her own YouTube channel, "The Charismatic Voice", under the motto "Demystifying singing", in which she addresses many facets of the human voice and singing, via reaction videos. After the number of subscribers grew sharply during the first year of the

COVID pandemic Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fev ...

, she hired an assistant in the summer of 2020. In her reaction videos, she analyzes and comments on different vocal aspects. At the suggestion of her subscribers, she began to devote her analysis to rock and metal singers, whom she had never heard, such as

Ronnie James Dio Ronald James Padavona (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010), known professionally as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal singer. He fronted numerous bands throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and Heaven & Hel ...

and

Rob Halford Robert John Arthur Halford (born 25 August 1951) is an English heavy metal singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist of Judas Priest, which was formed in 1969 and has received accolades such as the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Metal Perform ...

and, increasingly, to extreme, guttural vocals, featuring subgenres such as

deathcore Deathcore is an extreme metal subgenre that combines death metal with metalcore. The genre consists of death metal guitar riffs, blast beats, and metalcore Breakdown (music)#Heavy metal and punk rock, breakdowns. While there are some precursors ...

. In January 2021, she also began to conduct long-distance video "tea-time interviews" with well-known singers. Early guests included

Alissa White-Gluz Alissa White-Gluz (; born 31 July 1985) is a Canadian singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, and former lead vocalist and founding member of the Canadian metalcore band The Agonist. Her vocal ...

James LaBrie Kevin James LaBrie (born May 5, 1963) is a Canadian singer, best known as the lead singer of the American progressive metal band Dream Theater, which he has been fronting since 1991. Early life Kevin James LaBrie was born in Penetanguishene, ...

, Will Ramos, and

Devin Townsend Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972) is a Canadian singer, guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007. He has also ...

Video games

She also arranges vocal parts for video games of various genres, including the real-time strategy game '' 0 AD'' and the point-and-click adventure game '' Elsinore'', released in 2019 and which was nominated for "Best Original Choral Composition", "Best Original Song" with "Fair as a Rose", and "Best Original Soundtrack Album" at the 18th Annual

Game Audio Network Guild Awards A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art (suc ...

Vocal coaching and research

Zharoff offers online courses as a voice coach. She has also developed an interest in sound creation in the upper laryngeal structure. She used a Kickstarter campaign in September, 2024 to create The Charismatic Voice Research Fund which will allow university studies of this largely not widely understood function, using professional singers as test subjects. The best known of these subjects is Will Ramos. The campaign was promoted through her YouTube channel and a feature interview with CanvasRebel Magazine. Within a month of its launch, the campaign had surpassed its goal of USD$235,000.

Opera repertoire

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor (music), conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the mid-20th century. Principally influenced ...

: ''

Antony and Cleopatra ''Antony and Cleopatra'' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed around 1607, by the King's Men at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre. Its first appearance in print was in the First Folio published ...

'' – Cleopatra *

Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (; ; 3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was an Italian opera composer famed for his long, graceful melodies and evocative musical settings. A central figure of the era, he was admired not only ...

: ''

La sonnambula ''La sonnambula'' (; ''The Sleepwalker'') is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the ''bel canto'' tradition by Vincenzo Bellini set to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ''ballet-pantomime'' written by Eu ...

'' - Amina *

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

: ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'' - Marguerite *

Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, Music theory, music theorist, Folkloristics, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian folk music, Moravian and other Slavs, Slavic music, includin ...

: '' The sly little vixen'' – Sly little vixen *

Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string instrument, string player. A composer of both Secular music, secular and Church music, sacred music, and a pioneer ...

: ''

L'incoronazione di Poppea ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' (Stattkus-Verzeichnis, SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian List of operas by Claudio Monteverdi, opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Buse ...

'' - Drusilla *

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

: '' The Abduction from the Seraglio'' - Konstanze *

: ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

'' - Pamina *

: '' Lucio Silla'' - Giunia *

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

: ''

The Rake's Progress ''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings '' A Rake's Prog ...

'' - Anne Trulove *

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

: '' La traviata'' – Violetta *

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...

: '' Street Scene'' - Anna Maurrant

Ludography

Original soundtracks

* 2017: ''Aven Colony'' * 2018: ''Where the Water Tastes Like Wine'' * 2018: ''Yoku's Island Express'' * 2018: ''0 AD'' * 2019: ''Devolver Digital Cinematic Universe: Phase 1 Original Soundtrack'' * 2019: ''Elsinore'' * 2020: ''Lost Words: Beyond the Page'' * 2021: ''Ambition: A Minute in Power''

Compilations

* 2016: ''Successor: Final Fantasy VIII'' Remixed * 2016: ''Mobius: Sonic the Hedgehog Remixed'' * 2016: ''Pattern: An Homage to Everybody's Gone to the Rapture'' * 2016: ''Enraptured: BioShock Remixed'' * 2016: ''Fallen: An Undertale Tribute'' * 2016: ''Song Cycle: The History of Video Games'' * 2017: ''Zodiac: Final Fantasy Tactics Remixed'' * 2017: T''esseract: An Acoustic FEZ Album'' * 2017: ''Spira: Music from Final Fantasy X'' (Besaid Mix) * 2018: ''Fate: A Tribute to Majora's Mask'' * 2019: ''Exile: A Tribute to Supergiant Games'' * 2019: ''Resurrection of the Night: Alucard's Elegy'' * 2019: ''Epoch: A Tribute to Chrono Trigger'' * 2020: ''Flamesgrace: A Tribute to Octopath Traveler''

References

External links

The Charismatic Voice
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. * Elizabeth Zharoff give
a brief career summary and talks about her approach to her YouTube channel and the channel's impact
(September 2024) {{DEFAULTSORT:Zharoff, Elizabeth 1986 births 21st-century American women composers 21st-century American women opera singers American music arrangers American music YouTubers American operatic sopranos American vocal coaches Curtis Institute of Music alumni Living people Oberlin Conservatory of Music alumni Musicians from Tucson, Arizona Pacific Lutheran University alumni People from Wenatchee, Washington Singers from Arizona Singers from Washington (state) Sound designers Video game musicians YouTubers from Arizona YouTubers from Washington (state)