Sophia Maekawa

Ryan Opera Center Ensemble

Previously at Lyric: Tisbe/Cinderella and Herdswoman/Jenůfa (both 2023/24).

The second-year Ryan Opera Center mezzo-soprano from Kyoto, Japan, was a 2022 Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist, understudying Rosina/Il barbiere di Siviglia and Comrade Chin and Shu Fang/M. Butterfly, and a 2021 Gerdine Young Artist with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. In Lyric's 2024/25 Season, Maekawa will appear as LeeAnn in The Listeners. She recently received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. While there, she performed in Ariodante (title role), Albert Herring, and L'enfant et les sortilèges. Other roles in her repertoire include Hermia/A Midsummer Night's Dream, Annio/La clemenza di Tito, Mercédès/Carmen, Second Woman/Dido and Aeneas, and Mrs. Nolan/The Medium. Concert appearances include the Wichita Symphony and Curtis Symphony Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Recipient of a 2024 American Opera Society of Chicago Scholarship Award, Maekawa was a finalist at the 2022 Opera Grand Rapids Competition and a semi-finalist in the 2021 Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition.