GRAMMY® Award-winning contralto Meredith Arwady continues to garner acclaim for her powerful voice, remarkable range, and commanding stage presence across a wide-ranging repertoire encompassing Wagner, Verdi, Handel, and contemporary opera. A Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, she is also the recipient of a Richard Tucker Career Grant, the George London Foundation’s Kirsten Flagstad Award, and the inaugural Marian Anderson Prize for Emerging Classical Artists.
In 26/27, Arwady returns to Lyric Opera of Kansas City for The Pirates of Penzance (Ruth) and Pittsburgh Opera for Roméo et Juliette (Gertrude) and makes her Holland Festival debut in Terence Blanchard’s Champion (Kathy Hagan). Future engagements include a return to Opera Philadelphia.
Last season, she returned to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for The Pirates of Penzance (Ruth). In 24/25, Arwady starred in the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Woman with Eyes Closed (Mona) at Pittsburgh Opera, creating a role written specifically for her.
A frequent guest at The Metropolitan Opera, Arwady has appeared with the company in Champion (Kathy Hagan), Doctor Atomic (Pasqualita), and La fille du régiment (Marquise de Berkenfeld). Other major engagements include Peter Grimes (Auntie), Die Walküre (Schwertleite), and the world premiere of André Previn’s Brief Encounter with Houston Grand Opera; Falstaff (Mistress Quickly), Gianni Schicchi (Zita), and Suor Angelica (Mother Abbess) with San Francisco Opera; and Un ballo in maschera (Ulrica), The Medium (Madame Flora), and Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen (Erda; First Norn) with Oper Frankfurt.
Arwady created the role of Kathy Hagan in the world premiere of Terence Blanchard’s Champion at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and has subsequently reprised the role with Washington National Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, The Atlanta Opera, Opéra de Montréal, and The Metropolitan Opera. Her extensive operatic career has also brought her to Lyric Opera of Chicago, Canadian Opera Company, English National Opera, The Santa Fe Opera, Opera Philadelphia, The Glimmerglass Festival, and Des Moines Metro Opera. Additional repertoire includes Candide (Old Lady), Eugene Onegin (Filipyevna), Dialogues des Carmélites (Madame de Croissy), The Rake’s Progress (Mother Goose), Boris Godunov (Hostess), The Nightingale and Other Fables (Death), Emmeline (Hannah), and Giulio Cesare (Cornelia).
On the concert stage, Arwady has appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, and New York Philharmonic, collaborating with conductors including James Gaffigan, Alan Gilbert, Robert Spano, Sir Andrew Davis, Fabio Luisi, Sebastian Weigle, Edo de Waart, Christoph Eschenbach, and Lorin Maazel. Her concert repertoire includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 2, 3, and 8, Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, Handel’s Messiah, and Dvořák’s Biblical Songs.
In recital, Arwady has performed under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation in New York and Chicago and in concerts presented by the Curtis Institute of Music. She has also appeared in the Richard Tucker Gala and is a graduate of the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago.
A native of Michigan, Arwady holds a Master of Music degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with Marlena Kleinman Malas.
2026-2027
