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 is a current Apprentice Artist with Palm Beach Opera's Benenson Young Artist program. Ms. Kelly is also a recent graduate of Yale School of Music, and was recently named a National Semi-finalist in the 2022 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.
In 2022-2023, Ms. Kelly joins the Palm Beach Opera, where she performed scenes as Cendrillon and Zerlina with the Benenson Young Artist program in fall 2022, and is covering the roles of Meg Page in Falstaff and Dorabella in Così fan tutte this spring. This summer, Ms. Kelly will attend the Wolf Trap Studio to perform in scenes as well as cover Athamas in Semele and Siebel in Faust.
Ms. Kelly is no stranger to the concert stage, where she has performed with the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, the Washington Opera Society, and the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra throughout 2022. Earlier concert engagements include performing with the Yale Philharmonic in their spring 2022 Opera Gala as well as appearing as a soloist in Mozart’s C minor mass with the Yale Conducting program in fall 2021. 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. Ms. Kelly's upcoming concert performances include a private recital with the Metropolitan Club in Washington DC this May.
Also in 2022, Ms. Kelly made her role debut as Ruggiero in Alcina with the Yale Opera Studio, and joined the Music Academy of the West as a Studio Artist where she performed in their production of Eugene Onegin.
Ms. Kelly's 2020-2021 season 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. 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 a semi-finalist in the Opera INDEX 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.
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