Chinese-Australian soprano Yvette Keong is a unique performer who is passionate about the ability of classical music to enliven modern society by centralizing voices that need to be heard.

Hailed as a “soaring soprano” of “clarity and promise” (Opera News) and as “one of the most exciting songstresses in the world” (Cut Common Magazine), Ms. Keong is a dynamic artist of opera, art song, concert, and contemporary repertoire. She recently made her solo recital debuts with the Carnegie Hall Citywide series and Opera Maine. This season sees her company debut leading as La Virgen del Cobre in Paola Prestini’s The Old Man and the Sea with Beth Morrison Projects at ASU Gammage and Carolina Performing Arts, and her recital debut at Merkin Hall with Classic Lyric Arts. This summer, she was a voice fellow at the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, performing in recitals curated by Kevin Murphy and Graham Johnson and in masterclass with Ailyn Perez.

Other recent highlights include Third Prize at The Gerda Lissner Foundation Lieder & Song Competition, First Place winner at the John Alexander Opera Mississippi Vocal Competition, the Opera Australia Prize and Merenda Legacy Prize at the IFAC Handa Australian Singing Competition, and her debut with Annapolis Opera as Clorinda in La Cenerentola. She was previously a resident artist at the Marlboro Music Festival, alongside Mitsuko Uchida, Jennifer Johnson Cano, and Jonathan Biss.

Her deep passion for bringing forth necessary voices in opera have seen her leading in several premieres of new works, including as Iris Chang in Shuying Li’s opera When the Purple Mountains Burn in workshop at the Houston Grand Opera, La Virgen del Cobre in Paola Prestini’s The Old Man and the Sea with Beth Morrison Projects, and Hideko in Bora Yoon’s opera Handmaiden at Princeton University. She made her National Sawdust debut with Beth Morrison Projects in 21c Liederabend: Op. Senses, an interactive recital of living women composers. Ms. Keong led the creation of And Is Renewed, a recital program of all living female composers centred upon feminine creation and resilience, which premiered as part of the Women Now Festival with EXTENSITY Concert Series.

She is a recipient of The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship, the only musician of her year to be awarded the prize and the first singer in a decade. Ms. Keong was an inaugural Renée Fleming Artist at the Aspen Music Festival, where she made her festival debut as the soprano soloist of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and sang as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte under the baton of Patrick Summers. She participated in SongStudio at Carnegie Hall led by Renée Fleming. She was the recipient of The Rohatyn Great Promise Award at the Eastern Region of the Metropolitan Opera Competition, and has won accolades from the James Toland Vocal Arts Competition and Opera Index Competition.

Ms. Keong completed her Master of Music at The Juilliard School, where is the proud recipient of the Novick Career Advancement Grant. She completed her Bachelor of Music at the Manhattan School of Music, where she received the honorary Hugh Ross Commencement Award upon graduation for an outstanding singer of unusual promise.

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