Chinese-American mezzo-soprano Sun-Ly Pierce, Third Prize Winner of the 2024 Operalia competition, is rapidly establishing herself as a versatile and dynamic artist in both traditional and contemporary repertoire.
Sun-Ly’s 26/27 season begins with her return to Houston Grand Opera for Faust(Siebel) and Boston Lyric Opera for Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino). Other highlights of the season include Handel’s Messiah with Boston Baroque and theHouston Symphony, Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Mozart's Requiem and Mass in C minor on tour with Les Musiciens du Louvre. She also returns to the stage at Carnegie Hall for a solo recital presented by the Music Academy of the West. Sun-Ly concludes the season at The Santa Fe Opera in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina). Future engagements include leading roles at the New National Theatre Tokyo, Houston Grand Opera, and The Metropolitan Opera.
During the 25/26 season, Sun-Ly returned to The Metropolitan Opera for the world premiere of Mason Bates’ The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (Rosa Saks) conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and directed by Bartlett Sher. Other highlights of the season included debuts at LA Opera for Akhnaten(Nefertiti), Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Théâtre de Caen for La Calisto (Diana), Semperoper Dresden and The Santa Fe Opera for Madama Butterfly (Suzuki), and Madison Opera for Così fan tutte (Dorabella).
Sun-Ly returned to several notable theaters during the 24/25 season including The Metropolitan Opera in Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino), Opera Philadelphia in L’amant anonyme (Dorothée), and Des Moines Metro Opera in The Cunning Little Vixen (Fox). On the concert stage, she debuted with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra in Messiah, the Britt Festival Orchestra for Ravel’s Shéhérazade, and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic in Madama Butterfly (Suzuki). She also returned to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in Die Walküre (Siegrune) under the baton of Music Director Fabio Luisi.
In the 23/24 season, Ms. Pierce made several high-profile debuts, including The Metropolitan Opera in La Rondine(Suzy), Hudson Opera House in Rodelinda (Bertarido), New Orleans Opera in Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino), and Berkshire Opera Festival in Faust (Siébel). Additionally, she returned to Houston Grand Opera in Madama Butterfly(Suzuki), to Des Moines Metro Opera in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina), and debuted with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in Die Walküre (Siegrune) under Fabio Luisi.
Sun-Ly made role and house debuts at Calgary Opera in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs (Laurene Powell), Opera Philadelphia in Otello (Emilia), and Detroit Opera in Xerxes (Arsamene). She also returned to Houston Grand Opera in The Wreckers (Jack and Thirza cover) and Des Moines Metro Opera in The Love of Three Oranges (Smeraldina) and The Falling and the Rising (Toledo). On the concert stage, she performed Mozart’s Requiem with the Houston Symphony conducted by Itzhak Perlman, Szymanowski’s Songs of the Infatuated Muezzin with The Orchestra Now at Carnegie Hall, recitals for Lyric Fest in Philadelphia, and various programs at Bard Music Festival.
Ms. Pierce is a first-place winner of the Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers and a graduate of the prestigious Butler Studio at Houston Grand Opera. She has won top prizes in the Marilyn Horne Song Competition, Dallas Opera National Vocal Competition, and Butler Opera International Voice Competition. A native of Clinton, New York, she holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Bard College Conservatory of Music.
