Michelle Mariposa, Mezzo-Soprano
Photo Credit: Caitlin Oldham
Michelle Mariposa is an award winning Filipino-Chinese mezzo-soprano, praised for her “plummy tone, easy resonance, and effortless carrying power” (The New York Times), “quicksilver coloratura, attention to detail, and spellbinding dramatic energy.” (The Washington Post) She is a Grand Finals Winner of the 2025 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the first prize winner of the 2026 Washington International Voice Competition and a 2023 Sullivan Award Winner of the Sullivan Foundation. Michelle was most recently a Cafritz Young Artist with the Washington National Opera (WNO).
Michelle opens her 2026-2027 season with Huang Ruo’s The Rift at the Carnegie Hall with the Bard East/West Ensemble and China Now Chamber Orchestra. Following, she looks forward to going back to the Washington National Opera as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly. Michelle then makes her Seattle Opera debut as the 2nd Frida Image in El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego by Pulitzer-prize winning composer and playwright, Gabriel Lena Frank and Nilo Cruz, and her Opera Lafayette debut in The Impostor Unmasked, a musical masquerade featuring works from Dowland to Purcell to Early Handel. In the spring, Michelle makes her highly anticipated debut as Angelina in Rossini’s La Cenerentola with the Opera Theater of Saint Louis.
Michelle recently made her Glimmerglass Festival debut as Suzuki and Dorabella in Così fan tutte. She also made her debut with the Manila Symphony Orchestra, where she sang the title role in a concert performance of Carmen to rave reviews, as well as beloved kundiman.
Additional roles and engagements in the 2025-2026 season have included Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus) with the Washington Opera Society, Marcellina (Le Nozze di Figaro), The Fox and the Rose (The Little Prince), Rebecca Nurse (The Crucible), Sophie (Mickey Dee and the Eclipse - World premiere), and the Consultant (The Curse of the Magi - World premiere) all with Washington National Opera. Recently, Michelle also made her debut with the National Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Gianandrea Noseda, as the Monitress in Suor Angelica and La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi, where she was hailed as “the evening’s most jaw-dropping instrument.” (The New York Times) Michelle was also one of the featured soloists in Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor and Solemn Vespers with the Bellingham Chamber Chorale.
In the 2024-2025 season, Michelle made her Kennedy Center debut as Waltraute in an excerpt of Die Walküre as part Washington National Opera’s Gods and Mortals: A Celebration of Wagner concert. Other roles with WNO include Raksha (The Jungle Book), Poly 2 (Mud Girl - World premiere), and the Teacher (The R(E)volution of Steve Jobs). Michelle returned to the Opera Theater of Saint Louis as a Gaddes Festival Artist, singing Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream under the baton of Leonard Slatkin, and covering Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus and Zoe in the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s This House. She made her German concert debut as a young artist with the International Meistersinger Akademie, where she sang concerts with the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, as well as in recitals in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz.
In the 2023-2024 season, Michelle made her company debut with Haymarket Opera as Damigella (Caccini’s Alcina.) She joined Chicago Opera Theater and the Chicago College of Performing Arts as a young artist, where she sang in the ensemble of Shostakovich’s The Nose, and covered the Countess and Podtochina. With COT, Michelle also premiered Gillian Rae Perry’s new opera, The Weight of Light. Additional engagements include her recital debuts with the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago and Chamber Music at Bethany.
In the summer of 2024, Michelle made her debut with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, singing Maria Maddalena (Galileo Galilei), and Nirena (Julius Caesar) in a last minute jump-in. As a Gerdine Young Artist with OTSL, Michelle also covered the title role in Julius Caesar, and was awarded the Richard Gaddes Career Award in recognition of her extraordinary vocal potential and contribution to the festival season.
Michelle has been a young artist with the Santa Fe Opera, where she covered Pastore 3 (Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo), and Teatro Nuovo, where she covered Calbo in Rossini’s rarely performed Maometto Secondo. Her other roles include Ruggiero (Hande’s Alcina), Third Lady (Die Zauberflöte), and the title role in Menotti's The Medium.
In concert, Michelle has performed as alto soloist in works such as Berio’s Sinfonia, Handel’s Messiah, Bernstein’s Mass, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Bach's Magnificat and Cantatas 82 and 182, and Jenkin’s The Armed Man. As a recitalist, Michelle has enjoyed collaborations with the FilAm Music Foundation NFP, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago chamber ensembles. A new music specialist, Michelle has premiered works by composers in both the Philippines and the United States, such as Dave Ragland, Omar Najmi, Jose Buencamino, Yanni Robiennol, Jai Saldajeño, and Gillian Rae Perry.
Michelle’s other awards include the Lynne Cooper Harvey Foundation Award (top prize) from the Musicians Club of Women 2024 Vocal Competition. Michelle is also a winner of the 2019 National Music Competition for Young Artists in her native Philippines, where she was also awarded Best Interpretation for the contest piece.
Michelle completed her Master's degree in Voice and Opera Performance at Northwestern University, and her Bachelor’s degree in Voice and Psychology at the University of the Philippines, both summa cum laude. Michelle has studied with Stephen Smith, Mark Crayton, Christopher Ong Arceo, Raymond Leslie Diaz, and Katherine Molina.
September 2026