Praised for her “beautiful line and effortless high notes,” and “grounded, athletic soprano,” American Kaarin Cecilia Phelps has established herself as one of the most exciting young singers of the new generation.

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This season she debuts at the Opera de Monte-Carlo as Ortlinde / Die Walküre, performs Madame Lidoine / Dialogues des Carmelites at Royaumont, Clotilde / Norma and Kate Pinkerton / Madama Butterfly at the Opera de Toulon, Antigone / Enescu’s Oedipe in her debut at the Enescu festival in Bucharest, Dritte Norn / Götterdämmerung and the cover of Sieglinde / Die Walküre in the Wagner in Vermont Festival (USA). 

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Recently named the 2024 Grand Prize winner of the Concours International de Chant “Georges Enesco," where she was also awarded a special prize from composer Henri Nafilyan, Phelps made her African continent debut last season in Tangiers, Morocco in a Puccini and Verdi Opera Gala.

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A lover of art song, Phelps performed a series of solo recitals in Paris at the Galerie Prodromus with her pianist, Hugo Philippeau. Their new recital program "Musiques des Sommets," features an eclectic mix of Finnish, American, and French art song. The same recital will take place in various locations throughout the EU over the next season.

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After beginning her career as a mezzo-soprano, in summer 2023,  Kaarin Cecilia Phelps debuted Donna Elvira / Don Giovanni with the Festival Lyrique de Samoëns and turned entirely to soprano repertoire thereafter. Throughout her mezzo career, she was a standout in roles such as Isabella / L’Italiana in Algeri, Hänsel / Hänsel und Gretel, Augusta Tabor / The Ballad of Baby Doe, and the Mother / Amahl and the Night Visitors by Menotti. Noted always for her standout skills as a singing actress, Phelps excelled in various world premieres of contemporary theater works.

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Kaarin Cecilia Phelps spent a year as a Resident Artist at Opera in the Heights (Houston, Texas, USA) where she took on multiple roles and concerts. In the fall of 2020, she starred in Seven Spells, written for Ms. Phelps by Donia Jarrar for the Decameron Opera Coalition. This daring update of Boccaccio’s Decameron, a collaboration of nine U.S. Opera Houses with baritone Luca Pisaroni at the helm, garnered praise and awards including a « Freddie » from WQXR (New York Public Radio), 360° of Opera’s Best Collaboration Award, and was listed on Opera Wire’s « Top 10 Industry Defining Moments of the Year » (2020). She sang Alisa (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro) in concert at Houston’s White Oak Music Hall and performed the solos in Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle at Mandell Park (Houston) in 2020. Frequently invited as a soloist, Ms. Phelps has sung with Houston Masterworks Chorus in Beethoven’s Mass in C, Handel’s Messiah and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. In 2021, Kaarin Cecilia Phelps returned to Opera in the Heights to sing Ines / Il Trovatore.

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Ms. Phelps lives in Paris, France and makes frequent returns to the United States.