ABOUT ALISON
Alison Kessler is passionate about music and theater. Her experience includes performing in genres spanning from opera and art song to musical theater and cabaret.
A 21-year-old soprano and native of New Rochelle, New York, Alison is a fourth-year undergraduate at The Juilliard School, studying with William Burden. Previously, she studied at the Juilliard Pre-College Voice Program for two years with Lorraine Nubar. Alison now serves as Ms. Nubar's Teaching Assistant.
In Fall 2024, Alison made her role debut at Juilliard as La Contessa in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. Upcoming roles in the 2024/2025 season include The Governess (cover) in Britten’s Turn of the Screw and Sœur Félicité in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites. In December 2024, Alison was chosen to perform alongside Brian Zeger in Juilliard SongFest which Zeger coached and curated. In Spring 2024, Alison had the privilege of 'belting her face off' in a Cabaret directed by Jeanne Slater and John Arida. She also performed two song cycles by Poulenc, "Métamorphoses" and "Trois Poèmes de Louise de Vilmorin", in a Liederabend curated by Pierre Vallet.
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During Summer 2025, Alison is excited to be a Studio Artist at Opera Maine. She will perform In Paul's Case by Spears as Drawing Teacher, Opera Singer II, and Maid II, and in the chorus of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.
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In Summer 2024 Alison studied with Classic Lyric Arts (CLA) in Lougratte, France, performing scenes from Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Antonia) and Ciboulette (Ciboulette). After CLA, she studied French language at the Alliance Française in Nice and worked as the teaching assistant for Ms. Nubar at L’Académie Internationale D’été de Nice.
Alison attended the Chautauqua Opera Conservatory during the summer of 2023, where she performed as La Novizia in Puccini’s Suor Angelica and as Le Feu in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilège. She also performed selections from Ben Moore's "So Free am I" in a recital curated by the composer.
Alison is a Connecticut District winner of the 2024-25 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.​ Among other accolades, Alison was a 2021 YoungArts National Competition Winner in Classical Voice. She also was a winner in the Schmidt Vocal Arts Undergraduate Competition (2022) and the winner of the Schmidt High School Vocal Competition - New York Cohort (2021).
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When not singing or performing, Alison enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, seeing Broadway shows, and going for walks around NYC!
