Here’s the edited biography:
Hailed by the Financial Times for her “easy flexibility, arresting poise and enveloping warmth,” mezzo-soprano Cecelia Hall is a member of Oper Frankfurt’s prestigious ensemble and appears regularly as a guest artist on many of the world’s finest stages.
Among her most acclaimed portrayals is Der Komponist in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, which she has performed at Seville’s Teatro de la Maestranza, the Palau de les Arts Valencia, the Tanglewood Festival, and with Vladimir Jurowski and the Moscow Philharmonic Society. Her Seville performance drew wide critical praise, with Opera Actual writing: “I wish Strauss had given more lines to the troubled composer, because the mezzo Cecelia Hall took care of every detail, phrased with authentic intention and pleasure, and showed that she had a sincerely beautiful voice.”
Her Frankfurt career has encompassed an exceptionally wide range of repertoire, from Baroque to contemporary opera, with notable new productions including Magnard’s Guercoeur and Reimann’s Melusine, alongside role debuts in Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Birtwistle’s Punch & Judy, and Benjamin’s Written on Skin.
Opera engagements beyond Frankfurt have taken her to Boston Lyric Opera, where Operawire praised her “beautiful lyrical instrument” in La Cenerentola; to Austin Opera for Carmen; to the Komische Oper Berlin for Xerxes; and to The Israeli Opera for Ariodante. She has sung Penelope in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria with Garsington Opera, conducted by Laurence Cummings. In North America, her Romeo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi at Opera Omaha drew particular attention: Opera News wrote that “it was Cecelia Hall who outshone them all as Romeo. The dynamic flexibility with which Hall sang, shaping every phrase with dramatic intention, was a delightful example of bel canto singing.”
Her concert work has included Mozart’s Requiem with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Jaap van Zweden at Lincoln Center, Bach’s St John Passion on tour with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s conducted by Harry Bicket, Megacle in Vivaldi’s L’Olimpiade with Jean-Christophe Spinosi and Ensemble Matheus in London, and Thomas Adès’ America: A Prophecy with the Helsinki Festival conducted by Susanna Mälkki. She has also appeared with the Utah Symphony, the Bay Atlantic Symphony, and at the Alte Oper Frankfurt.
A noted recitalist, Cecelia has performed at Carnegie Hall in a Spotlight recital and gala with the Marilyn Horne Foundation. In Frankfurt, she gave a much-lauded Liederabend with Hilko Dumno, and as a Samling Artist she sang at Wigmore Hall with Sir Thomas Allen and Malcolm Martineau.
An alumna of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center, she received critical acclaim for her Annio in La Clemenza di Tito with Sir Andrew Davis and David McVicar, and for the title role of Handel’s Teseo at Chicago Opera Theater. As an alumna of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, she has appeared at the Met in Manon and Iphigénie en Tauride. She is also an alumna of The Juilliard School and DePaul University, and a recipient of the Sara Tucker Study Grant, the Brian Dickie Outstanding Young Singer Award, and the Lynne Harvey Foundation Scholarship from the Musician’s Club of Women.
