Soprano Elena Villalón is a current studio artist at Houston Grand Opera, and was named a Grand Finals winner of the 2019 Metropolitan National Council Auditions. Villalón begins the 2020-21 season as a second-year studio artist at Houston Grand Opera, and will perform in their new digital season in Vinkensport, The Snowy Day, and Hansel and Gretel, as well as in the Studio Showcase as Sophie in Werther, Lulu in Lulu, and Poppea in L'Incoronazione di Poppea. Due to Covid-19, performances at HGO as Sophie in Werther, Clorinda in La Cenerentola, and Amy in the anticipated world premiere of Joel Thompson’s The Snowy Day, have been canceled. At the end of the season, she covers Bess in Breaking the Waves. Other appearances include recitals with Cincinnati Song Initiative and at the Rienzi Museum of Fine Arts as part of the studio recital series. In the 2019-20 season, Villalón performed Inès in Kevin Newbery’s new production of La Favorite, and La Mujer in the world premiere of Javier Martínez' El Milagro de Recuerdo with the Houston Grand Opera, as well as covering the roles of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and Michal in Saul. In June 2020, she was slated to join Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist, as the First Wood Sprite in Rusalka....