LYADP SCENES

December, I flew back to NYC to cover Kate Pinkerton [Madama Butterfly, Puccini] at my home house, The Metropolitan Opera. The first day of rehearsal was so memorable. I arrived early, and parked at a nearby coffee shop when I received a call from The Lindemann Program. They had a sick mezzo and the annual scenes recital was later that evening! I agreed to step in, missed the first moments of Madama rehearsal and learned the parts on the go. Everything went smoothlyb and it was so good to hear the progress of my colleagues! I was very proud of them.

Madama butterfly

As for the Madama rehearsal, I fangirled as I usually do: Kurzak, Polenzani, and DeShong - and I was being paid to hear it! One of the most elegant productions I've done, and it was such a full-circle moment. Madama Butterfly was my very first opera. When the performance was over, I was so moved that I declared to my parents (at 10 years old) that I would become an opera singer. 20 years later, I’m singing that same music in a sitzprobe at The Metropolitan Opera. I spent alot of time reflecting and thanking God, my family, and many mentors for their help and taking the time to see me. I appreciate you, and you have my gratitude.

Intelligence

The minute I stepped back into the states, I was rushed into rehearsals for Jake Heggie’sIntelligence at Houston Grand Opera. I loved my time there. Great weather, a fabulous team, and covering an artist I deeply admire: J’Nai Bridges. It truly was a treat to interact with a brand new Heggie score.

Purchase Tickets!

Beethoven's 9th

with The Philadelphia Orchestra

Thursday, May 18, 2023

8PM

Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor
Leah Hawkins, soprano
Cierra Byrd, mezzo-soprano
Issachah Savage, tenor
Kevin Short, bass-baritone
Morgan State University Choir
Dr. Eric Conway, choir director

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Met opera Lyadp

The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program Bruno Walter Recital Series

Friday, May 19, 2023 at 5:30pm 111 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10023

MISSA SOLEMNIS

April 1, 7pm

April 2, 3pm

Sosnoff Theatre - Fisher Center for Performing Arts

Bard College

Manor Ave, Annandale-On-Hudson, NY 12504

Click here for tickets

Omar

Ms. Byrd will join Boston Lyric Opera as “Mother” in the new and innovative “OMAR”.

Music by Rhiannon Giddens & Michael Abels
Libretto by Rhiannon Giddens
Director Kaneza Schaal
Published by and presented with permission of
Subito Music Corporation

Emerson Cutler Majestic Theatre
Thursday, May 4, 2023 | 7:30PM
Saturday, May 6, 2023 | 7:30PM
Sunday, May 7, 2023 | 3PM

Sung in English with English surtitles

Met Opera LYADP

The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Patron Concert

December 15, 7:30p

The Peter Jay Sharp Theater at the Juilliard School

155 West 65th Street

Ms Byrd’s scenes are the last 2 of the program.

1. Sister Helen, a nun who has decided to become a spiritual advisor to a man on death row, grapples with the concept of true forgiveness.

2. Falstaff, a lecherous and crafty man, decides to woo two women in hopes of gaining their fortune. Both women discover that they've received similar letters and, with the help of two friends, resolve to punish him.

Idomeneo

Ms. Byrd returns to The Met stage as ‘Woman of Crete’ in Mozart’s “Idomeneo”. The opera will run until October 20.

“Amani Cole-Felder and Cierra Byrd complemented one another perfectly as women of Crete, their voices blending as one;”

-OperaWire

“As if in tribute to Addison, the Met revival deploys two gifted Black young artists, soprano Amani Cole-Felder and mezzo-soprano Cierra Byrd, in these short but musically telling roles.”

-Classical Voice North America

Met opera lyadp

The Met’s popular concert series in New York City parks returns with performances in all five boroughs, beginning Monday, June 20, with an evening of arias and duets at Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage in Central Park. The first two recitals feature rising stars soprano Brittany Renee, tenor Ben Bliss, and baritone Justin Austin, accompanied at the piano by Bryan Wagorn. The four subsequent recitals showcase three exciting young artists—soprano Amani Cole-Felder, mezzo-soprano Cierra Byrd, and bass-baritone Vladyslav Buialskyi—with Dimitri Dover on piano.

Learn More

American lyric

Ms. Byrd will be featured in two of the three operas:

I WILL FOLLOW YOU INTO THE DARK
Composer: Jasmine Barnes; Librettist: Marcus Yi
Featuring: Brittany Logan, Cierra Byrd and Vladyslav Buialskyi

THE MAGIC CABBAGE
Composer: Johanny Navarro; Librettist: Joshua Banbury
Featuring: Cierra Byrd, Jonah Hoskins, and Samson Setu

Learn More

Metropolitan Opera Debut

This season, Ms. Cierra Byrd will make her Met debut as Bertha in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones.

Click here for more info

Met Opera LYADP

I am delighted to announce that I will be continuing my development with The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program!

"The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program was created in 1980 to identify and develop extraordinarily talented young artists in the realm of opera. The program has trained a new generation of celebrated American and international opera singers, as well as coaches and pianists, who perform at the highest standards in productions at the Met and opera houses around the world."

- metopera.org

Des Moines

Looking forward to singing with DMMO as an Apprentice Artist this summer in their production of Queen of Spades!

The 2020 Festival also includes Sweeney Todd, Platée (Rameau), and Fellow Travelers (Spears | Pierce, 2016).

More Info Here

Peabody Conservatory

The celebration and the culmination of my work at the Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University.

I will be presenting Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, an innovative presentation of Black Art Song, and more.

Saturday, April 18, 4PM - Griswold Hall
Mr. Alan Lin, Piano
Free and open to the public.

Reserve a Spot Here

Baltimore Symphony

“Mahler’s Third Symphony is the heart of his symphonic output. In six movements, it looks at the totality of the natural world, beginning with plants and animals, rising to humans and culminating in the divine. Its last movement, which Mahler named, “What love tells me,” is a magnificent arc of melody, as beautiful as anything he wrote.”

Honored to be working with these great musicians!
We are less than 2 weeks away, so purchase your tickets soon!

Marin Alsop, conductor
Cierra Byrd, mezzo-soprano
University of Maryland College Park Concert Choir
Edward Maclary, director
Peabody Children’s Chorus
Doreen Falby, director

THU, MAR 12, 2020 8:00 PM, STRATHMORE
FRI, MAR 13, 2020 8:00 PM, MEYERHOFF
SAT, MAR 14, 2020 8:00 PM, STRATHMORE

Purchase Tickets Here

American Lyric

"Sherlock Holmes, the lives inside a zoo, and teenagers on a Halloween night: none of these seem like expected topics for an opera, but then again American Lyric Theater (ALT) is not trying to confirm your expectations of this age-old art form. Instead, this necessary incubator, which launches its first festival this February, is ushering in the next generation of opera makers..." 
- The Observer

Meet the artists bringing THE OPPOSABLE THUMB to life:

Composer - Liliya Ugay
Librettist - Julian Crouch

Conductor - Emily Senturia

Eva - Laura Krumm
The Pilot - Andrew Bidlack, Tenor
Hagenbeck - Scott Conner
Greta, a Cook - Caroline Worra
Old Soldier - Gideon Dabi
Young Soldier - Jordan Rutter

Monkey - Sydney E Anderson
Chameleon -Boya Wei
Hyena - Amelia Watkins
Ibis - Courtney Miller
Rhino - Vera Savage
Lion - Cierra Byrd

Pianist - Sara Chiesa

Don't miss THE OPPOSABLE THUMB, Sunday, February 23rd, part of the InsightALT Festival: https://www.altnyc.org/insightalt-2020

National Opera Association

Congratulations to the winners of the 2020 Carolyn Bailey and Dominick Argento Vocal Competition. Bravo to all artists who participated this year, and we hope you'll enter again for a chance to join us in St. Augustine in January of 2021. 

https://www.noa.org/competitions/vocal-competition/2020-winners.html

London Song Festival

Had a lovely time in London with The London Song Festival and The British Art Song Society.

A special thank you to Roderick Williams for his honesty and warm energy, to Mr. Nigel Foster for accepting our application and choosing us to be semi-finalists, and to Monica Daly for agreeing to duo with me. She played beautifully!

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Peabody Conservatory

Mezzo Cierra Byrd will be the featured soloist for Manuel de Falla’s: El Amor Brujo, which Peabody Chamber Orchestra will perform on their concert on Saturday, September 28, 2019.

Peabody Chamber Orchestra, Program 1
Saturday, September 28, 2019, 7:30 pm
Joseph Young, conductor

Friedberg Hall
1 E. Mt. Vernon Pl.
Baltimore, MD 21202