Soprano Tessa McQueen is a 2026 Operalia winner (Second Prize and Birgit Nilsson Prize), having received both honors at the competition in Shanghai, China. Her other 2026 competition honors include first prize in both the Cooper-Bing Competition and the Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition, and second prize in the Butler Opera International Competition. She was also a National Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition.
McQueen recently completed her tenure as a member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera. During her time in the program, she appeared in The Magic Flute (First Lady), La traviata (Annina), and the Met’s SummerStage recital series in 2025 and 2026.
Highlights of McQueen’s 26/27 season include her European debut at the Salzburg Easter Festival in Die Walküre (Helmwige), presented as part of the festival’s new Ring cycle with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Kirill Petrenko and directed by Kirill Serebrennikov. She will also make her debut with The Santa Fe Opera in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Berta) and cover Così fan tutte (Fiordiligi) as a member of the company’s Apprentice Program for Singers. Additional engagements include the Sag Harbor Song Festival. In future seasons, she will make her debut with Opera Colorado and return to The Metropolitan Opera.
In the 25/26 season, McQueen returned to Wolf Trap Opera as a Filene Artist for Tosca (title role) and made her debut with the National Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 under Gianandrea Noseda. The preceding season, she covered Strauss’ Guntram (Freihild) with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and participated in the Merola Opera Program, covering Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira) and performing Pagliacci (Nedda) in the Schwabacher Summer Scenes Concert. As a Studio Artist with Wolf Trap Opera, she also covered Faust (Marguerite) and performed scenes from Idomeneo (Elettra), Falstaff (Alice Ford), and Der Rosenkavalier (Marschallin).
McQueen made her professional debut with Central City Opera in the world premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s Two Remain (Out of Darkness) (Krystyna Żywulska), where she was a Young Artist supported by the El Pomar Foundation and received the company’s Young Artist Award. She was also an Opera-to-Go Young Artist with Opera Saratoga, appearing in Jack and the Beanstalk (Jack’s Mother; Giant’s Wife).
On the concert stage, McQueen has appeared as soprano soloist in Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the Washington City Choir and John Rutter’s Requiem with the Rice Chorale.
McQueen holds a Master of Music from Rice University and a Bachelor of Music, with honors, from Oklahoma City University, where her roles included The Bartered Bride (Marie), Susannah (title role), and Cendrillon (title role). She is based in New York City.
2026-2027
