Noted for her “plush, glowing tones, and lyrical poise”, contralto Cecelia McKinley is rising the ranks of American Opera (Arts and Culture Texas). Fresh off of her Metropolitan Opera debut, and two years after graduating from the Washington National Opera Cafrtiz Young Artist Program, Cecelia’s 2026-2027 Season is filled with happy returns and exciting new repertoire.

In August, Cecelia begins the season with her National Symphony Orchestra debut as the Alto Soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. She then returns to In Series Opera in the title role of The MAKAdo (Make America Kingly Again!) a modern satirical reimagining of the Gilbert and Sullivan classic. Following, Cecelia will make another exciting return, this time to her home company of Washington National Opera as Third Secretary to Mao in John Adam’s Nixon in China, conducted by Robert Spano and starring Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson. After performances of Handel’s Messiah throughout Virginia with the Roanoke Symphony, Cecelia jumps back in to the world of modern music as the Alto Soloist in George Benjamin’s two-voice chamber opera, Into the Little Hill, again with In Series Opera. Most excitingly, Spring 2027 brings Cecelia’s first Verdi role: Maddalena in Verdi’s Rigolettowith both Annapolis Opera and Opera Birmingham.

This past Summer, Cecelia returned to Wolf Trap Opera for her second Summer as a Filene Artist with Filipjevna in Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece, Eugene Onegin, conducted by Steven White. As a 2025 Filene Artist, she made her role debut as Madame de Croissy in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites in which she “turned in a hugely compelling performance, her dense contralto conveying the despair and savagery in the Mother Superior’s ravings” (Washington Classical Review). Cecelia’s 2025-2026 season also included performances with Opera Lafayette in Dido and Aeneas as Second Witch, a return to Ars Lyrica Houston as Galatea in Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, her first Mozart Requiem as Alto Soloist, and a much anticipated debut with The Metropolitan Opera in a new production of Gabriela Lena Frank’s El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego, under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

During her time as a Cafritz Young Artist with Washington National Opera, Cecelia workshopped and premiered three new operas through the American Opera Initiative, igniting a deep love of new music. She also performed at the Kennedy Center as Gertrude in Roméo et Juliette, Zweite Magd in Elektra, and Arsace in Partenope. A lover of both crossover and concert work, Ms. McKinley’s 2024 was punctuated with roles like Mastrilla in Songbird–the franglais reimagination of Offenbach’s La Perichole–at Washington National Opera; as well as Ella/Mrs. Mister in Blitzstein’s Brechtian “play in music”, Cradle Will Rock with InSeries Opera, for which The Washington Post pinned her as a “favorite”. That year Cecelia also made a quick post-Young Artist return to Washington National Opera as the Valkyrie Schwertleite in Gods & Mortals: A Celebration of Wagner. Her concert credits include Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Elgar’s Sea Pictures, and Mendelssohn’s Elijahwith ensembles such as the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra , the Georgetown University Orchestra, The Denyce Graves Foundation, and the New Orchestra of Washington.

Ms. McKinley is the 2025 First Place Winner of the Opera Birmingham Competition, a 2025 finalist in the Cooper-Bing Competition, and a 2024 Semifinalist in the Hans Gabor Belvedere International Singing Competition. She is also a proud Ambassador Artist of the Denyce Graves Foundation and a grant recipient of the Olga Forrai Foundation. Ms. McKinley has also participated in the Merola Opera Program, the Wolf Trap Opera Studio Artist Program, and Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices.

When not singing, Cecelia can be found at home in the DMV watering her plants and making a delicious mess in her kitchen.