ABOUT
Mezzo-soprano Emily Warren is known for her versatile dramatic and vocal capabilities and astute artistic interpretations. In July 2026, she made her company debut with Shakespeare Opera Theatre in McLean, Virginia, performing the roles of Madame Pernelle in Kirke Mechem’s Tartuffe and Mrs. Gleaton in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah to acclaim. OperaGene heralded her performance in Tartuffe as “regal,” remarking, “Emily Warren played Madame Pernelle perfectly with beautifully controlled intonations…”
In December 2025, she made her role debut as Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with Music on Site. In November 2025, she appeared with Great Lakes Operetta, singing the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe, and in spring 2025, Ms. Warren was featured with the Valkyrie Ensemble as the Nursing Sister in Puccini’s Suor Angelica and as alto soloist in Lina Braghetta-Piozzi’s mass for soprano and alto, Missa Sanctae Heracleae. In 2024, she was an opera fellowship recipient with Utah Valley Operafest, where she performed the role of Stephano in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, including performances in Provo and Orem.
Previously, Ms. Warren was featured in the American Handel Festival, where her performance of Sesto in Giulio Cesare under the baton of Gary Wedow and direction of Robin Guarino earned her recognition as “impressive” (The Herald-Times) and for her “clear mezzo [which] projected nicely above the orchestra” (Eighteenth-Century Music). As part of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s Mozart Festival, she performed as Dritte Dame in a fully staged production of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte conducted by Krzysztof Urbański and directed by Samuel Helfrich. Jay Harvey Upstage noted her performance as “formidable—both ethereal and menacing.”
An accomplished performer of new music, Ms. Warren performed the role of the Teacher in the collegiate premiere of Mason Bates’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs at Indiana University, a coproduction with the Santa Fe Opera, Seattle Opera, and San Francisco Opera, conducted by Michael Christie and directed by Kevin Newbury. She has premiered art song and opera with New Voices Opera, including creating the role of Joan in Kyle Rotolo’s Marilyn’s Room for which The Herald-Times praised her performance: “mezzo Emily Warren excelled.” She has also performed as a soloist and chorister with NOTUS contemporary vocal ensemble.
On the concert stage, Ms. Warren has appeared as a soloist in works by J. S. Bach (Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 190) and Charpentier (Messe de Minuit pour Nöel), as well as Ted Hearne’s Privilege. As a chorister, she has performed many of J. S. Bach’s works, including the Weihnachtsoratorium, St. Matthew Passion, Mass in B Minor, Magnificat, St. John Passion, and several cantatas; Purcell’s Come ye sons of art; Haydn’s Mass in D Minor; Walton’s Belshazzar's Feast, contemporary works including Christopher Theofanidis’s Messages to Myself, David Lang’s Little Match Girl Passion and Statement to the Court, and James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross, among others; and has performed with the contemporary vocal ensemble NOTUS and the early music ensemble Concentus.
For her portrayal of the title role in The Tragedy of Carmen, the Peter Brook adaptation of Bizet's Carmen, directed by Victoria Bussert, Ms. Warren was deemed “lithe, convincingly a siren” (CoolCleveland). Other roles include Ramiro in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera (conducted by Clinton Smith), Dryade in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos (conducted by Arthur Fagen), L’enfant in Maurice Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, and Aloès in Emmanuel Chabrier’s L’étoile (conducted by Marzio Conti). Ms. Warren holds a master’s degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.