Elena Villalón

In the 2025–26 season, she makes a series of highly anticipated company debuts: as Dalinda in a new production of Ariodante at the Royal Opera House, Glauce in Medea at Chicago Opera Theater, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at Opéra de Bordeaux, and Fiorilla in Il turco in Italia for her Glyndebourne Festival debut. On the concert platform, she performs Beethoven’s Egmont arias with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Haydn’s Paukenmesse at the Wiener Konzerthaus.

A graduate of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Villalón’s 2024–25 season included two major New York debuts: as Nuria in the Metropolitan Opera’s premiere of Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar, and in her solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall alongside pianist Craig Terry. She also returned to Santa Fe Opera as Gilda in Rigoletto, and made debuts as Almirena in Rinaldo at Detroit Opera and in the title role of Rodelinda at Oper Frankfurt, where she also appeared as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier.

Highlights on the opera stage include her Metropolitan Opera debut as Amore in Orfeo ed Euridice; Sheila in the world premiere of Gregory Spears’ The Righteous at Santa Fe Opera; Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel) and Tina (Flight) at Dallas Opera; Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, her role debut as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Iole in Barrie Kosky’s Hercules, Atalanta in Xerxes, and Frasquita in Carmen, all at Oper Frankfurt; and Susanna at both Austin Opera and Houston Grand Opera.

Villalón has also appeared in concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 under James Gaffigan at Tanglewood; as the Queen of Sheba in Solomon on international tour with The English Concert and Harry Bicket; with the Pittsburgh Symphony in Handel’s Messiah and Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem; in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio at the Tiroler Festspiele; and in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Lubbock Symphony in her native Texas. Additional credits include Carmina Burana with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day with Boston Baroque, Gloria with the Grand Rapids Symphony, and a recital at the Kennedy Center presented by Vocal Arts DC with pianist Kathleen Kelly.

A native of Austin, Texas, Villalón is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and made her professional debut as a Gerdine Young Artist at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, where she sang Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro and later returned as Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi. She is a 2019 Grand Finals winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a recipient of the 2022 Sara Tucker Career Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation and the Richard F. Gold Career Grant from Houston Grand Opera. She also recently won Second Prize, the Audience Prize, the CS Prize, and the Wil Keune Prize at the Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition.