Lyric coloratura soprano Abigail Raiford was noted for her “powerful, luxurious soprano voice, as well her wonderfully comic way of weeping as the woebegone Elvira” in Tulsa Opera’s production of Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri.  Most recently, she was named a District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition’s Tulsa District, won an Incentive Award from the 2022 SAS Performing Arts Company Vocal Competition, and was a finalist in the Emerging Artist Division of the MI Opera Vocal Competition.  Over the summer of 2022, she made a splash during her first season with Central City Opera as a Bonfils-Stanton Studio Artist.  In the same weekend, she learned and performed the role of Krysia in Heggie's Two Remain with mere hours of preparation, and then stepped in as Ida in Die Fledermaus.  She was given the Central City Opera Guild's McGlone Award at the end of the summer.

She previously spent three seasons as a Resident Artist and Apprentice Artist with Sarasota Opera, with highlights including Second Witch in their 2021 production of Dido & Aeneas and performing the role of Belinda for a family performance of the same production.  She has also been a Studio Artist with St. Petersburg Opera Company, covering the role of Despina in Così fan tutte and singing Olympia in Davies’ Pinocchio.  

In recent years, she has gained recognition in competitions around the country, winning 2nd Prize in the 2021 SAS Performing Arts Company Vocal Competition, being named a finalist in the NH Opera Idol Virtual Competition, receiving an Encouragement Award in the Student Division of the inaugural Camille Coloratura Awards, and winning both the Mannes Concerto Competition and the University of Tulsa Concerto-Aria Competition.  As a sister of Sigma Alpha Iota, she was awarded the 2022 Career Performance Grant, allowing her to travel to Rome, Italy and study with the incomparable soprano Mariella Devia that May.

A lover of Mozart, her most performed operatic roles have been the Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte) and Despina (Così fan tutte), and other highlights include Rose Maurrant (Street Scene), First Lady (Die Zauberflöte), Anicasia (La Dolorosa), and Yum-Yum (The Mikado).  Her vocalism has thrilled audiences on the concert stage as well, especially in Milhaud’s Chansons de Ronsard with the Mannes Orchestra, and John Mackey’s Songs From the End of the World with the University of Tulsa Wind Ensemble.  She obtained her Master of Music from the Mannes School of Music as a student of Amy Burton, and received her Bachelor of Music from the University of Tulsa, under the tutelage of her mother, Judith Pannill Raiford.