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 was full of house and role debuts as well as a robust competition and concert schedule. January 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 run of the title role in Carmen. Later this season, Ms. Kelly appeared 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.

 

In summer 2024, Ms. Kelly joined Opera Saratoga where she will debut as Dorabella in Così fan tutte and Agatha in Guys and Dolls. Also at Opera Saratoga, Ms. Kelly performed in multiple concerts of opera, cabaret, and musical theater throughout the season. Ms. Kelly closed her summer season as a featured recitalist with the Bel Canto Society in Highlands, North Carolina, where she sang selections from Norma, Carmen, and Werther.

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As a first year member of the Juilliard School's prestigious Artist Diploma program, autumn of 2024 saw Ms. Kelly as a featured singer in the Juilliard School's live-streamed masterclass with Isabel Leonard and also in the Liederabend Series. In masterclass with Ms. Leonard, Ms. Kelly sang the Letter Scene from Massenet's Werther. In recital, she presented a program of Alma Mahler, Wolf, Brahms, Zemlinsky, and Korngold, in a liederabend curated by the Juilliard director of collaborative piano and well-known recitalist, Lydia Brown.

 

In spring 2025, Ms. Kelly will debut as Mère Marie in Juilliard Opera's Dialogues des Carmélites, and cover the role of L'enfant in L'enfant et des Sortiléges. She will also join the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra in Knoxville, where she will perform large excerpts of Octavian in Der Rosenkavelier, and Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos in their spring concert focused on the works of Strauss. This summer, Ms. Kelly will join the 2025 Apprentice Artist Program at Santa Fe Opera, where she will cover Waltraute in Die Walküre and Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro. 

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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. 

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In 2022, Ms. Kelly was a semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition after winning the New Orleans District and Gulf Coast region. That spring, she also debuted as Ruggiero in Alcina, with the Yale School of Music, before graduating with her masters. Ms. Kelly then joined the Music Academy of the West studio artist program as part of their production of Eugene Onegin. In fall 2022, Ms. Kelly took home a first place win in 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. While at Palm Beach Opera, Ms. Kelly covered Meg Page in Falstaff and study covered Dorabella in Così fan tutte, and performed scenes from Cendrillon and Don Giovanni. 

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Ms. Kelly opened summer 2023 with a debut solo recital at the Metropolitan Club of Washington DC, featuring works by Lully, Rameau, Bernstein, Joseph Marx, Berg, and Grieg, alongside pianist and conductor Tyson Deaton. She then joined Wolf Trap Opera's Studio Program, where she 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 closed out the season with her debut as Cherubino in the Washington Opera Society’s abridged concert production of Le nozze di Figaro, in December.

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Ms. Kelly is a successful vocal competitor, and has been recognized throughout the country by multiple musical organizations and competitions. Most notably, Ms. Kelly was a semifinalist in the 2022 Metropolitan Opera Laffont competition, a semifinalist in the Houston Grand Opera McCollum Competition, 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, first place winner of both tiers the Young Patronesses of the Opera Competition (2022, 2024), and 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 is a graduate of 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 the Yale School of Music (2022). She joined the artist diploma program at the Juilliard School this fall and will be a member from 2024-2026.

 

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