Hailed for her “mezzo-tinted lower register rising to a wonderful warm top," (The Washington Post) American soprano Colleen Daly skillfully balances engagements on both the concert and opera stages.
In the 2024/2025 season, she premiered of excerpts from Kverndokk and Wiik’s Babette’s Feast with the Denyce Graves Foundation at the National Gallery of Art and the French Embassy (Washington, D.C.), returned to Maryland Opera’s for Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen, and reprised her role as Older Alyce in Cipullo’s Glory Denied with Greensboro Opera. This season, she debuts with Opera Tampa for Britten’s Turn of the Screw, and joins both Maryland Opera and Annapolis Opera for operatic favourites in concert.
Recent engagements include Britten’s Turn of the Screw with Opera Baltimore, Mozart’s Così fan tutte with Opera Delaware, Baker’s Wife in Annapolis Opera’s Into the Woods, and joining Baltimore Choral Arts for Carmina Burana. The 23/24 season saw her join the National Philharmonic Chorale (Washington, D.C.) for Beethoven’s C Major Mass, and Annapolis Opera for Cipullo’s Glory Denied.
Widely recognized for her masterful concert performances, in recent seasons she has appeared as the soprano soloist for both Dvořák’s Stabat Mater (Vancouver Symphony) and his Te Deum (Cathedral Choral Society at the Washington National Cathedral), both Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Brahms’ Requiem with New York’s Trinity Wall Street, Verdi’s Messa di Requiem with Santa Barbara Symphony and the Bozeman Symphony, Martin’s In Terra Pax with the Grant Park Music Festival, and both Orff’s Carmina Burana and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony with the Washington Chorus at the Kennedy Center. Ms. Daly debuted internationally with the Calgary Philharmonic as Madeline in Philip Glass’ setting of The Fall of the House of Usher and was immediately reengaged for Mahler’s Symphony No. 8.
Colleen’s extensive experience with the concert repertory includes the Requiems of Mozart, Verdi, Fauré, and Brahms; Mendelssohn’s Elijah; Mahler’s Symphonies No. 2 and No. 8; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony; Poulenc’s Gloria, Vaughn-Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem, Rossini’s Stabat mater, and Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3.
An avid recitalist, Colleen presents a wide range of repertoire from sacred song to contemporary works. Colleen was named the winner of Vocal Arts DC’s 2014 Discovery Competition, leading to her presentation of a program curated and inspired by the permanent Phillips Collection Works at the Kennedy Center. Highly regarded in Washington, D.C. circles as a go-to soloist, Colleen has performed for governors, ambassadors, and senators across both aisles. She has also been fortunate enough to perform in private engagements with the Irish, Italian, Austrian, Colombian, and Bulgarian embassies, as well as for religious ceremonies and dignitaries from Argentina and Poland. She has been especially honored to sing for President Joseph R. Biden, Pope Francis, and various members of the Kennedy family.
August 2025
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