
BIOGRAPHY
Praised as a "divine" mezzo soprano (Palm Beach Post) with a “rich,” and “beautifully emotional” sound (DC Metro Arts), Anna Kelly is an up-and-coming mezzo who who was recently named as National Semifinalist in the 2022 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. In 2022-2023, Ms. Kelly joins the Palm Beach Opera's Benenson Young Artist program as an apprentice artist, covering Meg Page in Falstaff and Dorabella in Così fan tutte, in addition to performing scenes as Cendrillon and Zerlina. IN Summer 2023, Ms. Kelly will join Wolf Trap Opera, where she will cover Athamas in Semele and Siébel in Faust.
In 2021-2022, Ms. Kelly made her role debut as Ruggiero in Alcina with Yale Opera, performed with the Yale Philharmonic for their spring opera gala, and sang as the soprano II soloist in Mozart’s C minor mass with the Yale Conducting program in fall 2021. In the summer of 2022, Ms. Kelly joined the Music Academy of the West as a studio artist, where she performed in their production of Eugene Onegin.
No stranger to the concert stage, Ms. Kelly presents a solo recital with the Metropolitan Club of Washington DC this summer, and in past seasons has been a frequent featured guest with the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, and the Washington Opera Society, among others.
Ms. Kelly's 2020-2021 season included scenes from the roles of Elisa in Lucia di Lammermoor, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Octavian in Der Rosenkavelier, Le Prince Charmant in Cendrillon, Smeton in Anna Bolena, and Isolier in Le Comte Ory: all with the Yale Opera Studio. Ms. Kelly also had the opportunity to perform with New Music New Haven as the the mezzo soloist in the spring 2022 first live performance of David Lang’s let me come in.
In the spring of 2020, she was slated to sing Sesto in La Clemenza di Tito, Siebel in Faust, and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro in scenes with the Yale Opera Theatre before performances were canceled due to the COVID19 epidemic.
Ms. Kelly has trained at esteemed programs including the Houston Grand Opera Young Artists’ Vocal Academy and has been recognized throughout the country from multiple musical organizations and competitions. In addition to her success in the Laffont Competition, Ms. Kelly was a winner of the 2022 Florida Grand Opera / Young Patronesses of the Opera Competition, and Cincinnati Conservatory of Music’s Corbet Competition. In prior years, Ms. Kelly was a Regional Winner and National Semifinalist for the 2021 National Association of Teachers of Singing competition, and has also won vocal competition scholarships from the Presser Foundation for Musical Philanthropy (2017), the National Society for the Daughters of the American Revolution (2016), the Friday Morning Music Club Annual Competition (2016), and the Schmidt Vocal Competition (2014).
Ms. Kelly holds a BM in Vocal Performance from the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. and recently graduated with her MM in Opera from the esteemed Yale School of Music in 2022.