Anna
Kelly

The American mezzo-soprano Anna Kelly joins the International Opera Studio of Cologne Opera as a member from the 26/27 season. She will appear there, among other roles, as Kate Pinkerton in "Madama Butterfly", Hänsel in "Hänsel und Gretel", Mercédès in "Carmen", and Third Lady in "Die Zauberflöte" (The Magic Flute).

Anna Kelly graduated from the Yale School of Music in 2022 and was a member of The Juilliard School’s Artist Diploma Program from 2024 to 2026. She completed prestigious young artist programmes including the Houston Grand Opera Young Artists’ Vocal Academy, Wolf Trap Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and the Music Academy of the West. She also received competition scholarships from the Presser Foundation for Musical Philanthropy, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and the Schmidt Vocal Competition.

She has received numerous awards in vocal competitions. Among her most notable achievements are reaching the semi-finals of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition (2022) and the Houston Grand Opera McCollum Competition, receiving the Albert Sherman Memorial Award at the Opera Index Competition (2023), third prize at the Gerda Lissner Lieder/Art Song Competition (2023), first prize (Tier II) and the Audience Favourite Award at the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition (2023), first prizes in both categories of the Young Patronesses of the Opera Competition (2022 and 2024), and finalist placements at the Giulio Gari Competition and the Opera Florham Competition (2023).

During the 25/26 season, Anna Kelly made her debut as Hänsel in "Hänsel und Gretel" at Juilliard Opera. She also covered the role of Mrs. Quickly in Verdi’s "Falstaff" and appeared in recital performing Brahms’s "Alto Rhapsody" and Wagner’s "Wesendonck Lieder". In concert, she performed Handel’s "Messiah" in four performances with the Phoenix Symphony, Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Glacier Symphony, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. In summer 2026, she made her debut at the Santa Fe Opera as Hélène Allatini in the American premiere of Tobias Picker’s "Lili Elbe" and also covered the role of Kate Pinkerton in "Madama Butterfly".

At the beginning of 2025, Anna Kelly appeared with the Irish National Symphony Orchestra as the second-place winner of the International Veronica Dunne Competition in Dublin, performing works by Mozart, Strauss, and Massenet. In spring, she made her debut as Mère Marie in "Dialogues des Carmélites" at Juilliard Opera and covered the title role in "L’enfant et les Sortilèges". She subsequently appeared with the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra in Knoxville, performing extensive excerpts as Octavian in "Der Rosenkavalier" and the Composer in "Ariadne auf Naxos". At the end of the spring season, she received a Laffont Education Grant from the Metropolitan Opera. During the summer, she joined the Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist, covering Waltraute in "Die Walküre" and Marcellina in "Le nozze di Figaro".

The 2024 season was marked by a number of important debuts. She made her Sarasota Opera debut as Federica in Verdi’s "Luisa Miller" and also covered the title role in "Carmen". Later that season, she appeared twice at Carnegie Hall: first as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Haydn’s "Lord Nelson Mass" with the New England Symphonic Ensemble in Stern Auditorium, and subsequently at the Gerda Lissner Foundation Winners Concert in Zankel Hall.

In summer 2024, Anna Kelly joined Opera Saratoga, where she debuted as Dorabella in "Così fan tutte" and Agatha in "Guys and Dolls". She concluded the season with a recital for the Bel Canto Society in Highlands, North Carolina, performing excerpts from "Norma", "Carmen", and "Werther". In autumn, she began the Artist Diploma Program at The Juilliard School, appearing in a live-streamed masterclass with Isabel Leonard and in the Liederabend Series. Together with Dr. Lydia Brown, she presented a recital featuring works by Alma Mahler, Hugo Wolf, Johannes Brahms, Alexander Zemlinsky, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

In spring 2022, she made her debut with the Yale School of Music as Ruggiero in Handel’s "Alcina" and completed her master’s degree shortly afterwards. She then joined the Music Academy of the West Studio Artist Program, where she appeared in a production of "Eugene Onegin". She was a Bailey Apprentice Artist at Palm Beach Opera, covering Meg Page in "Falstaff", preparing the role of Dorabella in "Così fan tutte", and performing scenes from "Cendrillon" and "Don Giovanni".

Anna Kelly opened summer 2023 with a solo recital at the Metropolitan Club of Washington, D.C., accompanied by pianist and conductor Tyson Deaton. The programme featured works by Lully, Rameau, Bernstein, Joseph Marx, Berg, and Grieg. She then joined the Wolf Trap Opera Studio Program, where she covered Athamas in "Semele", prepared the role of Siebel in "Faust", and performed scenes as Sister Helen Prejean in "Dead Man Walking", Ruth in "The Pirates of Penzance", and Tisbe in "La Cenerentola". She also appeared as a featured soloist in several gala concerts with the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra and the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, before making her debut as Cherubino in the Washington Opera Society’s concert version of "Le nozze di Figaro" at the end of the year.