Peruvian & Mexican American Soprano Vanessa Becerra’s 24/25 season is highlighted by her return to LA Opera for Ainadamar (Nuria). Additional engagements include her house and titular role debut in Paër’s Leonora at Chicago Opera Theater, debuts at UC Davis in Don Pasquale (Norina), Berkshire Opera Festival in La traviata (Violetta) and Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera in Le nozze di Figaro (Susanna). On the concert stage, Vanessa debuts with Madison Symphony Orchestra as a guest soloist for their holiday concert, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for their Spanish Journey program on tour, and the Boise Philharmonic as the Soprano Soloist in Mozart’s Requiem.
Last season, Vanessa was a featured soloist at Fort Worth Opera’s annual gala, debuted with Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera in Die Fledermaus (Adele) and returned to Opera Omaha for Don Pasquale (Norina), Minnesota Opera for L’elisir d’amore (Adina), Arizona Opera for Don Giovanni (Zerlina), and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for Galileo Galilei (Maria Celeste/Eos). On the concert stage she debuted with The Phoenix Symphony for Messiah.
In the 22/23 season, she made debuts with Florida Grand Opera for El matrimonio secreto (Carolina), and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for Così fan tutte (Despina) along with returns to Minnesota Opera for La fille du régiment (Marie), Opera Omaha for Le nozze di Figaro (Susanna), and Houston Grand Opera for El Milagro del Recuerdo (La Mujer). On the concert stage, she debuted with the newly formed San Antonio Philharmonic.
Vanessa has made debuts at The Metropolitan Opera in Cendrillon (Noémie), Boston Lyric Opera in Roméo et Juliette (Juliette), Intermountain Opera Bozeman in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina), Austin Opera in Fidelio (Marzelline), Opera Parallèle in La Belle et la Bête (Belle), Houston Grand Opera in the world premiere of El Milagro del Recuerdo (La mujer), Washington National Opera in Don Giovanni (Zerlina), and Arizona Opera for the feature length film adaptation and world premiere of The Copper Queen (Julia Lowell). She also has debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel in Die Zauberflöte (Papagena), San Francisco Symphony with Michael Tilson Thomas in Candide (Paquette), Lyric Opera of Chicago in Fellow Travelers (Miss Lightfoot), Opera Delaware and Baltimore Concert Opera in Werther (Sophie), Opera Omaha in Medea (Glauce), and Atlanta Opera in Sweeney Todd (Johanna).
Vanessa recently returned to Opera San José for the title role in Il segreto di Susanna by Wolf-Ferrari, following her success at Opera San Jose as the title role in Alma Deutscher’s Cinderella (featured internationally on Medici.tv) conducted by Jane Glover. Additional recent appearances include Washington National Opera for Sankaram’s Rise (Alicia Hernández), part of the world premiere tetralogy Written in Stone and Francesca Zambello’s West Side Story (Maria) with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, The Glimmerglass Festival, and Atlanta Opera. In concert, she debuted with Minnesota Opera for Ópera Afuera, St. Croix Valley Opera for a concert of popular arias entitled Opera on the River, and returned to Fort Worth Opera for Entre Amigos.
Ms. Becerra is a graduate of the Young Artist Program at the Los Angeles Opera. During her time with LAO, she appeared in Le nozze di Figaro (Barbarina), Die Zauberflöte (Papagena), La traviata (Annina), Gossip 2 in the GRAMMY Award-winning recording of Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles, and as a featured soloist in a concert with bass-baritone Erwin Schrott.Vanessa enjoys a long relationship with The Glimmerglass Festival where she has been seen in Oklahoma! (Laurey), La bohème (Musetta), and in their Young Artist performances of The Magic Flute (Pamina). Other training programs include Wolf Trap Opera Company, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Seagle Music Colony. She received her master’s degree from The Boston Conservatory, her bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University in her hometown of Fort Worth, TX and is a graduate of the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts.