Hailed by the Financial Times for her “easy flexibility, arresting poise and enveloping warmth,” American mezzo-soprano Cecelia Hall is a member of Oper Frankfurt’s acclaimed ensemble and appears regularly as a guest artist on many of the world’s finest stages.
In the 2026/27 season, Hall’s roles at Oper Frankfurt include Mathilda in a new production of Handel’s Ottone conducted by Václav Luks and directed by Jetske Mijnssen, Smeraldina in a new production of Prokofiev’s The Love of Three Oranges conducted by Patrick Hahn and directed by Damiano Michieletto, Waltraute in Wagner’s Die Walküre conducted by Thomas Guggeis, and the world premiere of Lucia Ronchetti’s Battaglia – The Women of Palermo conducted by Michael Wendeberg and directed by Claus Guth. This season’s concert appearances include Händel’s Messiah in Copenhagen and Viborg with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducted by Mogens Dahl; the role of Second Angel in George Benjamin’s Written on Skin with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken conducted by the composer; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with both the Verbier Festival Orchestra and the Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino conducted by Daniele Gatti.
Last season, Hall made three successful role debuts at Oper Frankfurt: Sesto in Händel’s Giulio Cesare conducted by Laurence Cummings and directed by Nadja Loschky; Judy/Fortune Teller in Birtwistle’s Punch & Judy conducted by Alden Gatt and directed by Wolfgang Nägele, and Second Angel/Marie in Benjamin’s Written on Skin conducted by Erik Nielsen and directed by Tatjana Gürbaca. She also made her company debut at Garsington Opera as Penelope in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria directed by John Caird and conducted by Laurence Cummings.
Other recent opera highlights include the role of Der Komponist at Seville’s Teatro de la Maestranza, title role in Rossini’s La Cenerentola for Boston Lyric Opera, title role in Carmen for Austin Opera, title role in Ariodante for Israeli Opera, Romeo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi for Opera Omaha, and title role in Xerxes for Komische Oper Berlin and Opera Holland Park. Her many roles in Frankfurt have included the title roles in Ascanio in Alba, Xerxes and Dido & Aeneas, Irene in Tamerlano, Idamante in Idomeneo, Marguerite in Le Damnation de Faust, and Charlotte in Werther. Past North American opera appearances include Don Ramiro in Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera for Santa Fe Opera, Sesto in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito with the Opera Theater of St. Louis, Annio for Lyric Opera of Chicago, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro and Ruby Thewes in Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain for Opera Philadelphia, Wellgunde and Rossweisse in Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen for Seattle Opera, and Javotte in Manon and Second Priestess in Iphigenie en Tauride for The Metropolitan Opera.
Previous concert appearances include Thomas Adès’s America: A Prophecy at the Helsinki Festival with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Susanna Mälkki, Mendelssohn‘s Lobgesang at the Alte Oper Frankfurt conducted by Thomas Guggeis, Mozart’s Requiem with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jaap van Zweden and the Utah Symphony conducted by Christopher Allen, Bach’s St John Passion with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century conducted by Daniel Reuss, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St. Lukes’s conducted by Harry Bicket, Mozart’s Mass in C minor and Requiem with Louis Langrée at the Mostly Mozart festival, Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’Eté with the Bay Atlantic Symphony and the Page in Strauss’s Salome with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In recital, Hall has appeared at New York’s Carnegie Hall and London’s Wigmore Hall.
Hall is an alumna of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center, Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, The Juilliard School and DePaul University.
Cecelia Hall is represented by Intermusica.
Updated August 2026. Portraits by Inga Beckmann. 2026/27 season, 634 words. Not to be altered without permission.
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