EMILIE KEALANI
SOPRANO
Photographed by Amanda Bottoms
highlights
"Light, delicate soprano was ideal for the innocent Calisto"
-Heidi Walton of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
"Kealani's light, pretty soprano delivered Musetta's music with absolute accuracy
even in moments of high vivacity." - David Shengold of OPERA NEWS
"Eindringlich gezeichnet und vokal erfüllt [Jano]..." (hauntingly drawn and vocally fulfilled)
- Udo Klebers of OPER INTERNATIONAL
"Kealani’s voice grew in warmth and fortitude as Calisto’s star rose..." - Joseph Dalton of TIMES UNION
"Something truly unique for us to witness..." -Jane Dieckmann of ITHACA TIMES
"Pure, agile, and lustrous sounds of Baroque opera."
-Susan Galbraith of DC THEATRE ARTS
"Displays a silky soprano range as the innocent Calisto,
ascending to celestial heights as she is transformed into a star
at the opera's climax." -David Seward of THEATRE LIFE
"Charmingly sung [Sophie]..." -VOCE DI MECHE
Photographed by Sophia Negron
PASSION PROJECT / ADVOCACY
I’m a proud Filipina who is passionate about bringing Asian and AAPI artists together, creating spaces for us to cultivate a shared sense of community through music. While building my repertoire of opera classics, I’ve also explored underrepresented music of the Asian canon, specifically Kundimans which are Tagalog love songs. In curating my first community event, I’m furthering my knowledge in Asian repertoire by exploring music across disciplines from the Bengali, Chinese, Filipino, Hawaiian, Indian, Japanese, Korean and Tongan cultures.
As seen in the Soundbites column of
OPERA NEWS and featured on PBS WHYY,
Filipino-American soprano Emilie Kealani
will be debuting the world premiere of
MIA in FAMILY STYLE
with the New Works Collective at
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis this season.
Singing in past productions with
Staatsoper Stuttgart, The Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Festival & Curtis Opera Theatre,
Emilie strives to integrate the music
of her culture with today's standards.
Photographed by Norman Doggett