“Praised for her “big, beautifully projected voice with an attractive edge and sparkle” (Arts Knoxville), soprano Adia Evans has performed with Santa Fe Opera, (covering Foreign Princess in Rusalka and the titular Tosca), Merola Opera (First Lady in Die Zauberflöte), Fort Worth Opera (High Priestess and Aida cover in Aida), Dallas Opera Guild, Opera Columbus, Tulsa Opera, Knoxville Opera, among others.
A formidable vocal competitor, Evans was a 2023 recipient of the prestigious Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation and a 2022 William Matheus Sullivan Foundation Award Winner. In 2023, she was awarded 2nd Place and the Soprano Prize in the George Shirley Vocal Competition, 3rd Place in the Washington International Competition, 1st Place in the Dallas Opera Guild Lonestar Vocal Competition, 3rd Place in the Midwest Region of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, a career grant from the Pasadena Vocal Competition. In previous years, she was 1st Place and Audience Choice in the James Toland Vocal Competition, as well as several others.
Upcoming, Adia will be joining the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center Ensemble for the 2024-2025 season. This season she made her debut at The Cliburn in Recital with Jake Heggie, her debut with Dayton Philharmonic as the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah, and her debut at Annapolis Opera as the First Lady in The Magic Flute. Later this season, she will perform with Borderland Arts Foundation as Mimi in La Bohème and with the National Orchestral Institute as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony under the baton of Marin Alsop.