Elena Villalón

Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a multiple prize winner at the Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, the 25-year-old Cuban-American soprano Elena Villalón has quickly attracted significant attention on the international opera scene. The youngest graduate of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, her current season includes Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro at Houston Grand Opera, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel at The Dallas Opera, and the Queen of Sheba in Handel’s Solomon on international tour with The English Concert conducted by Harry Bicket. She also appears at Oper Frankfurt, where she is now a member of the ensemble, singing Iole in Barrie Kosky’s new production of Handel’s Hercules as well as Atalanta in Xerxes.

In the coming season, Villalón will make her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Amore in Orfeo ed Euridice. She will also return to Santa Fe to appear in The Righteous, and will be heard as soloist in performances of Handel’s Messiah and Brahms’ A German Requiem with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In Frankfurt she will further take on the title role of Susanna in a new production of Le nozze di Figaro.

Recent highlights include house and role debuts at The Dallas Opera as Tina in Flight, at Austin Opera as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, and at Santa Fe Opera as Nannetta in Falstaff. She has also continued her close collaboration with Houston Grand Opera, where she created the role of Amy in the world premiere of Joel Thompson’s The Snowy Day and made her debut as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette.

In concert, Villalón appeared as an Emerging Artist Recitalist for Vocal Arts DC, collaborating with Kathleen Kelly at the Kennedy Center. Further highlights include performances as soprano soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Poulenc’s Gloria with the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra, and Handel’s Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day with Boston Baroque.

A passionate recital and song artist, Villalón spent her summers at the Tanglewood Music Center and at Songfest in Los Angeles as a Colburn Fellow. Highlights at Tanglewood included the soprano solo in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero, Max in Oliver Knussen’s Where the Wild Things Are, the world premiere of Michael Gandolfi’s In America, Bach cantatas under John Harbison, and concerts and recitals curated by Dawn Upshaw, Stephanie Blythe, Margo Garrett, and Sanford Sylvan. She has also appeared with the Cincinnati Song Initiative, at the Rienzi Museum of Fine Arts, and in programmes of Baroque cantatas and arias with the Mercury Chamber Orchestra.

As a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, she took part in digital productions including David T. Little’s Vinkensport, The Snowy Day, and Hänsel und Gretel, and appeared in a digital studio showcase performing scenes as Sophie in Werther, the title role in Lulu, and Poppea in L’incoronazione di Poppea. On the main stage of Houston Grand Opera she also appeared as Inès in Kevin Newbury’s new production of La Favorite, as La Mujer in the world premiere of Javier Martínez’s El Milagro de Recuerdo, and covered roles including Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and Michal in Saul.

Elena Villalón is from Austin, Texas, and is a graduate of the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. She made her professional debut as a Gerdine Young Artist at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where she first sang Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro and later returned as Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi. The Grand Finals winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2019, she has received several awards at the Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition, including Second Prize, the Audience Prize, the CS Prize, and the Wil Keune Prize. She is also a recipient of the 2022 Sara Tucker Career Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation and the Richard F. Gold Career Grant from Houston Grand Opera.