Houston-based soprano Riley Ortega will join the Houston Grand Opera’s Opera to Go! outreach program this coming spring as the Soprano cover in their touring production of The Velveteen Rabbit. Most recently, Ms. Ortega made her professional debut with Lone Star Lyric as Mrs. Clayton in the regional premiere of Séance on a Wet Afternoon by Stephen Schwartz. Additionally, she is an Encouragement Award Recipient of the Georgia District in the 2024-2025 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. 

She is a recent graduate of the University of Houston Moores School of Music where she obtained her Master of Music in Vocal Performance under the tutelage of Cynthia Clayton. During her two seasons with the Moores Opera Center, she was featured in roles such as, Beth in Adamo’s Little Women, Amalia in Bock’s She Loves Me, Ernestine in Offenbach’s comedic one-act Monsieur Choufleuri restera chez lui, and Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. Ms. Ortega received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Reinhardt University School of the Arts where she performed the roles of Belinda in Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas, Letitia in Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief, and Elsa in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music. She is an alumna of training programs such as Harrower Summer Opera Workshop (2024), SongFest (2023), Festival of International Opera in Urbania (2023), and the Vienna Summer Music Festival (2022), as well as the winner of the 2023 Atlanta Opera Guild Scholarship Competition.