A “divine” (Palm Beach Post) singer with a “rich,” and “beautifully emotional” sound (DC Metro Arts), mezzo-soprano Anna Kelly is quickly making a name for herself as a dynamic artist in a broad range of repertoire. 

 

Ms. Kelly’s 2024 season is full of house and role debuts as well as a robust competition and concert schedule. Winter 2024 opened with a first place win at the 2024 National Opera Association Carolyn Bailey Argento Competition, after which Ms. Kelly competed as a semifinalist in the 2024 Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Concert of Arias Competition. Ms. Kelly then debuted at Sarasota Opera as Federica in Verdi's Luisa Miller, where she also sang a cover performance of the title role in Carmen. Later this season, Ms. Kelly will appear twice in concert at Carnegie Hall: in her debut as the mezzo soloist for Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the New England Symphonic Ensemble in Stern Auditorium, and as one of the competition winners recognized in the Gerda Lissner Foundation Winners Concert in Zankel Hall.

 

This summer, Ms. Kelly will join Opera Saratoga where she will debut as Dorabella in Così fan tutte and Agatha in Guys and Dolls. Also at Opera Saratoga, Ms. Kelly will perform in multiple concerts of opera, cabaret, and musical theater classics throughout the season. Ms. Kelly will close her summer season as a featured recitalist with the Bel Canto Society in Highlands, North Carolina. 

 

Past seasons saw Ms. Kelly in opera, concert, and recital, with the Wolf Trap Opera Studio Program, the Palm Beach Opera Bailey Apprentice Artist Program, the Metropolitan Club of Washington DC, and the Washington Opera Society, among others. 

 

Notably, Ms. Kelly was a semifinalist in the spring 2022 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition shortly before graduating with her masters in music from the Yale School of Music. Ms. Kelly opened her fall 2022 season with a first place win at the 2022 Florida Grand Opera/Young Patronesses of the Opera Competition (Tier II), before joining Palm Beach Opera as a a 22/23 Bailey Apprentice Artist, where she covered Meg Page in Falstaff and Dorabella in Così fan tutte, and performed scenes from Cendrillon and Don Giovanni.

 

No stranger to the concert stage, Ms. Kelly opened her 2023 with her debut solo recital at the Metropolitan Club of Washington DC, alongside pianist and conductor Tyson Deaton. While at Wolf Trap Opera, Ms. Kelly covered Athamas in Semele, study covered Siebel in Faust, and performed scenes as Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking, Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance, and Tisbe in Cenerentola. Ms. Kelly also performed in a number of gala concerts as a featured concert soloist with the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, and the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, and in the Washington Opera Society’s concert production of Le nozze di Figaro, in December 2023. 

 

Ms. Kelly is a successful vocal competitor, and has been recognized throughout the country from multiple musical organizations and competitions: most notably as a Semifinalist in the 2022 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. Recently, Ms. Kelly was named the winner of the Albert Sherman Memorial Award at the 2023 Opera Index Competition, 3rd Place Winner in the Gerda Lissner 2023 Lieder/Art Song competition, 1st Place Winner (tier II) and Audience Favorite of the 2023 James Toland Vocal Arts Competition, 2nd place winner of the 2023 SAS Performing Arts Competition, and a finalist in the 2023 Giulio Gari and Opera Florham competitions.

 

In prior years, she won vocal competition scholarships from the Presser Foundation for Musical Philanthropy, the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the Schmidt Vocal Competition.

 

Ms. Kelly trained with esteemed young artist programs such as the Houston Grand Opera Young Artists’ Vocal Academy, Wolf Trap Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and Music Academy of the West, and is a graduate of the Yale School of Music (2022). She joins the artist diploma program at the Juilliard School this fall.

 

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