Irish Soprano Kelli-Ann Masterson is an alumna of both the ABL Irish National Opera Studio and Northern Ireland Opera Studio. She is a current Cara O’ Sullivan Associate Artist with Cork Opera House.
Kelli-Ann’s many recent engagements include Norina Don Pasquale and Marzelline Fidelio (both for Irish National Opera) and the title role in an award-winning production of Semele for Opera Collective Ireland, with her 2025 appearances including Gretel Hänsel und Gretel at the Cork Opera House, Yum-Yum The Mikado for Opera Della Luna, Belinda Dido & Aeneas with the Irish Baroque Orchestra at Blackwater Valley Opera Festival, Phyllis Iolanthe with the National G&S Company at Buxton Opera House and, in concert, Frasquita Carmen and Yum-Yum The Mikado in both Ireland and the UK.
Kelli-Ann’s current and future plans include her debut for English Touring Opera as Casilda The Gondoliers touring the UK in spring 2026, and a return to the National Concert Hall, Dublin as soprano soloist for Bach’s Christmas Oratorio.
Her many other operatic roles include Vespetta in Telemann’s Pimpione and Duchess/Bottle in Will Todd’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for Opera Collective Ireland, Sharon Graham Masterclass Smock Alley Theatre, Elsie The Yeomen of the Guard and Casilda The Gondoliers with the National G&S Opera Company at the Buxton International Festival, Pamina Die Zauberflöte and Micaëla in Peter Brooke’s La tragédie de Carmen at Cork Opera House, Elena Elena e Gerardo for Random Opera Company, Amor Orfeo ed Euridice at the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival and La Fée in Viardot’s Cendrillon at Wexford Festival Opera.
An avid performer of contemporary music, Kelli-Ann’s many premieres include Donal O Dare Vagabones by Raymond Deane for Opera Collective Ireland, 20 Shots of Opera with INO, cover Alice for Gerald Barry’s Alice’s Adventures Underground for INO/Royal Ballet and Opera, London, Breathwork by Ena Brennan at Dublin Theatre Festival/INO, Carbon Women by Aine Mallon for Our Place in Space/Dumbworld in Belfast, Rebecca in Amanda Feery’s A thing I cannot name for INO, and the song Moving House by Anselm McDonnell, specially commissioned for Kelli-Ann by the National Concert Hall, Dublin.
A regular oratorio soloist, Kelli-Ann’s many performances include Bach St Matthew Passion with the National Symphony Orchestra in Dublin, Bach St John Passion with the Dublin Bach singers, Handel Messiah with the Ulster Orchestra/Christian Curnyn and, most recently, Mozart Mass in C Minor with the RTE Concert Orchestra.
Other concert and recital highlights include her recent sold-out Soprano in Hollywoodconcert at the National Concert Hall (a programme from the Golden Age of Hollywood Movie Musicals), a concert tour in Singapore with Blackwater Valley Opera Festival, opera galas in Cork Opera House with Irish National Opera, and appearances as guest soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra at their summer concert series (broadcast live on RTE Lyric FM).
A multiple-prize winner, Kelli-Ann was the 2022 recipient of the Bernadette Greevy bursary from the National Concert Hall, Dublin and was a finalist in the 2022 BA Lirica International Voice Competition in Italy. Other accolades include the Liam Healy bursary at Wexford Festival Opera. Kelli-Ann is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin (BMus.Ed.) and TU Dublin, formerly DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama (MMus)