Performance Biography

Veteran mezzo-soprano Kirstin Chávez’s fruitful international singing career has brought her around the world many times over, earning her continuous acclaim on some of opera’s most beloved stages.  Described by Opera News as “the Carmen of a lifetime” and recognized as “one of the most definitive Carmens of all time,” Chávez also brings dramatic intensity, natural sensuality, and a nuanced acting range to some of the most iconic trouser roles, including Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier and Orfeo in Orfeo ed Euridice, both of which she presented at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.  Her experience now delivers her as a formidable presence in other powerful characters such as Dalila in Samson et Dalila, La Zia Principessa of Suor Angelica, and Ježibaba in Rusalka, among others.

As Carmen, Chávez utterly embodied the role; a descendent of Spain and fluent in the French language, she also embraced the art of flamenco dance to add further authenticity to her portrays.  Over a more than two-decade span, Kirstin performed her nuanced interpretation for countless audiences in the USA, Canada, Germany, Wales, Japan, China, Australia, Taiwan, France, Italy, and Austria.  Among her most memorable were those at the Sydney Opera House, the Arena di Verona, and the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center.  Through her rich experience, she nurtured a deep understan ding of and appreciation for the charcter, and, in collaboration with stage director Jonathon Pape, she co-created Carmen Inside Out – a one-woman tour de force illuminating Carmen’s inner story.  This powerhouse production has been presented around the world in France, Switzerland, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and can be performed with piano or orchestra.  Through Carmen Inside Out, Chávez takes audiences on an intimate tour of Carmen’s deepest thoughts and feelings, exploring the reasons why fate led her to the choices she made.  Currently accepting bookings, this unique, impactful, and versatile show can be scheduled by visiting the Carmen Inside Out website.

Chávez has also built a reputation as a highly sought after interpreter of modern opera.  She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Sondra Finchley in Picker’s An American Tragedy, and at Covent Garden in London as Marquise de Merteuil in Francesoni’s Quartet, a role she later performed at Malmö Opera in Sweden.  Other important modern opera roles included her “searing and incandescent” interpretation of Sister Helen Prejean in Heggie’s Dead Man Walking and Sharon Falconer in Aldridge’s Elmer Gantry, for which reviewers spoke of the “otherworldly quality to her singing.”  Chávez also originated the role of Glenda Ruiz in David Bernard Roumain’s impactful and critically acclaimed We Shall Not be Moved, which played in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York’s Apollo Theater, and the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam.  More recently, Chávez originated two world premiere roles in the operas of Hector Armienta: Ultima in Bless me, Ultima and Carlotta in Zorro.

Kirstin is also well known on the concert stage, having performed countless oratorios and concert productions, including such works as Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s Magnificat, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Verdi’s Requiem, Mahler’s 2nd Symphony and Rückert Lieder, and Manuel de Falla’s “El Amor Brujo.”

Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Kirstin Chávez spent most of her childhood in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  She completed her Bachelor of Music degree at the New Mexico State University, graduating with honors, and received her Master of Music degree and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music.  During her Artistic Residency with the Orlando Opera, Chávez won several major international competitions, including The Sullivan Foundation, The George London Foundation, the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, the Opera Index Foundation, the Gerda Lissner Foundation, the Jensen Foundation, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, where she was a National Finalist.

Chávez is a respected masterclass clinician and teaches throughout the United States.  Since 2012, she has been a Resident Artist and faculty member at IPAI Bavaria Summer Voice Intensive in Germany, where young singers convene for several weeks to immerse themselves in the German language and lifestyle while honing their performance skills.  In 2016, Kirstin was named as Artist in Residence at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, where she works with students in all degree programs from Bachelor’s to Doctorate.  In an effort to take her teaching even farther, she co-created the new course, “Applied Entrepreneurship for Performing Artists” with friend and stage director Jonathon Pape, and in April 2024, their co-authored book, Living the Dream: Building a Sustainable Career in the Performing Arts was published by Routledge.

Through a deep desire to bring the joy of opera to the wider world, and in an effort to further expand her reach into arts advocacy, in 2023, Kirstin created CIO PARTNERS, a 501(c)3 nonprofit arts organization dedicated to making opera more accessible and relatable.  Their first venture, Beyond Carmen Inside Out, continues to enjoy success; its inaugural performance was brought to the celebrated Kingsbury Hall and featured the University of Utah Philharmonia Orchestra, along with multiple University of Utah students, who performed supporting roles in this celebrated adaptation of the one-woman show.