New Jersey native mezzo-soprano Rehanna Thelwell joins the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist program for the 2019-20 season appearing as Third Lady in The Magic Flute and Annie in Porgy and Bess. Applauded for her “superb and expressive power” by the South Florida Classical Review, her collaborations have been described as a “tour de force” by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. For her most recent performances, Thelwell returned to Alaska to perform concert works with the Performing Arts Society. In October of 2018, Thelwell made her Carnegie Hall debut among the Exigence Vocal Ensemble led by Dr. Eugene Roger. In 2018, Thelwell joined Opera Theater of Saint Louis for their annual Opera Tastings and later became a part of Opera on the Go and the OTSL Artist in Residence program. As a 2018 Gerdine Young Artist with Opera Theater of St. Louis she covered the role of Addie in Blitzstein’s Regina and enjoyed collaborative work with the creative minds of Patricia Racette, Ron Daniels, and Stephen Lord. Earlier in 2018, Thelwell had the immense pleasure of performing as Maria alongside Talise Trevigne and Morris Robinson in The University Musical Society’s Porgy and Bess. At the end of her Specialist Degree, she had the unique opportunity to work with composer William Bolcom for his newest opera, Dinner at Eight, and performed as the alto soloist with the University of Michigan’s Symphony Orchestra for their performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. During summer 2018, Thelwell returned to the Miami Music Festival Wagner Institute in their production of the Götterdämmerung prologue as the 2nd Norn. Previously, Thelwell had the privilege of sharing the stage with soprano Christine Georke and bass-baritone Alan Held for their rendition of “The Ride of the Valkyries”. Thelwell also took part of OperaMODO’s 2016-2017 season as Mistress Quickly in Verdi’s Falstaff and Florence Pike in Britten’s Albert Herring. During that time, Ms. Thelwell was invited to sing with the Kenai Peninsula Orchestra for their performance of Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky in Anchorage, Alaska. Thelwell was actively involved with the University of Michigan Opera Theatre and Northern Arizona University Opera Theatre where she performed the roles of Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera, La Principessa in Suor Angelica, Cornelia in Giulio Cesare, Zita in Gianni Schicchi and Ježibaba in Rusalka. Thelwell also had the opportunity to premiere the San Francisco opera workshop production of Bright Sheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber as Lady Wang. Thelwell began her professional music studies in 2009 at Northern Arizona University under the instruction of Deborah Raymond. She holds both a Master’s and Specialist degree from the University of Michigan where she was a student of Nadine Washington and Daniel Washington. She has also had the pleasure of working with Kathleen Kelly, Timothy Cheek, Martin Katz, Jerry Blackstone, Eugene Rogers, and Kenneth Kiesler. Ms. Thelwell will return to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for their 2019 season as Giovanna in Rigoletto and Ruby in their newly commissioned opera, Fire Shut Up in my Bones.