Meet Yasmine Tajeddin, the Programmer of the Opera

Unlike most music majors at the University of Maryland, Yasmine Tajeddin had never performed in front of a crowd before arriving on campus. She never had vocal lessons, took a music class in high school or sang in a choir. That’s because in Iran, where she grew up, women can’t sing in public. “If I wanted to major in something like music, I would need to go outside my country,” she said. So, during her senior year of high school, she decided to audition for the UMD School of Music . One reason Tajeddin was drawn to Maryland was family support—her aunt lives in the state. The other reason was...