Born and raised in the DC metro area, contralto Cecelia McKinley returns to the Washington National Opera’s Cafritz Young Artist Program for the 2023-2024 season, in which she will perform the role of Gertrude in the CYA performance of Roméo et Juliette, The Cat / Brother 1 / Silk Merchant 2 in Tesori’s The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me; Mastrilla in Songbird, as well as participate in WNO’s American Opera Initiative (AOI).

In the 2022-2023 WNO season, Ms. McKinley sang the role of Zweite Magde in Strauss’s Elektra, as well Bubbie in the AOI World Premiere of Bubbie and the Demon. That same season included engagements with Ars Lyrica Houston as Fileno in Handel’s Clori, Tirsi, e Fileno, where she was noted for her “plush, glowing tones, and lyrical poise” (Arts and Culture Texas).

In Summer 2023, Ms. McKinley participated in the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco, where she sang selections of Handel and Rossini in the program’s Schwabacher Summer Concert and the Merola Grand Finale. Other summer festival credits include Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices and Wolf Trap Opera, where she sang the role of Mrs. Ott in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah.

Equally passionate about concert work, this season Ms. McKinley will join the Roanoke Symphony in both their Messiah and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 concerts as the alto soloist. She also recently participated in the inaugural concert of the Great Falls Philharmonic as the soloist in Elgar’s Sea Pictures. Her favorite projects have included Mendelssohn’s Elijah as well as Mahler’s Symphony No. 2.