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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 25/26 season begins with her return 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 include debuts at LA Opera for Akhnaten (Nefertiti), Semperoper Dresden and The Santa Fe Opera for Madama Butterfly (Suzuki), and Madison Opera for Così fan tutte (Dorabella). Future seasons include returns to Houston Grand Opera and The Santa Fe Opera in leading roles.

During the 24/25 season, Sun-Ly returned to several notable theaters 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. Her assignments while in the studio included Roméo et Juliette (Stéphano), Die Zauberflöte (Second Lady) in the Kosky production, Dialogues des Carmélites (Sister Mathilde and Blanche de la Force cover), Carmen (Mercédès), and Hänsel und Gretel (Hänsel). Additional engagements during this period included debuts with San Francisco Opera in Sheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber (Bao Chai), Des Moines Metro Opera in Die Zauberflöte (Second Lady) in the Kosky production, and Aspen Music Festival in Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira).

She has won top prizes in the Marilyn Horne Song Competition, Dallas Opera National Vocal Competition, and Butler Opera International Voice Competition. She was a semi-finalist in the Kurt Weill Foundation’s Lotte Lenya Competition and a Vocal Fellow at the Music Academy of the West. She was also an Encouragement Winner in the New England Region of The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. A native of Clinton, New York, she holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Bard College Conservatory of Music.

2025-2026