New York-based soprano Maia Sumanaweera is a compelling artist who brings poetic sensitivity to all her endeavors, infusing her musical roles and projects with rich emotional detail. Recent performances include the roles of Poppea in L’incoronazione di Poppea, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, La princesse in L’enfant et les sortilèges, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, and Linfea in La Calisto with Mannes Opera, as well as the role of Christine in Lost Childhood with Opera UCLA. Her scene work includes Antonia in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Adina in L’elisir d’amore and Suzel in L’amico Fritz with Classic Lyric Arts and soprano soloist in The Fairy Queen with Mannes Opera. She also sang in Santa Fe Opera’s NYC workshop of The Righteous by Gregory Spears and Tracy K. Smith. Maia is a recipient of the Encouragement Award in the Washington District Round of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.

In addition to her operatic credits, Maia has sung with ensembles for eleven years, and recently made her debut with GRAMMY®-nominated vocal ensemble Seraphic Fire, joining them for their 2024 Christmas tour. In 2019, she performed in the chorus with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra on the GRAMMY® award-winning recording of the new oratorio The Passion of Yeshua by Richard Danielpour. 

Maia completed her Bachelor of Music at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and her Master of Music at the Mannes School of Music. Outside of her performing career, Maia is passionate about working for arts organizations, serving as Assistant Manager of Development for Classic Lyric Arts and as Social Media Manager for the Kurt Weill Foundation. In her spare time, Maia loves cooking, floral arranging, exploring beautiful locales, and photography.