Leah Hawkins

soprano

Mme. Lidoine, the new Prioress Dialogues des Carmélites
Soloist Pilgrimage

Soprano Leah Hawkins is the recipient of The Metropolitan Opera’s 2024 Beverly Sills Artist Award and a graduate of their Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Additional honors include the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Women in Classical Music Career Advancement Award, Richard Tucker Foundation Career Grant and the Marian Anderson Award.

In the 2025-2026 season, Ms. Hawkins’ makes her role and house debut as Madame Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites at The Dallas Opera followed by a reprise of the role with New Orleans Opera, she returns to the Metropolitan Opera as Serena in Porgy and Bess, and makes her highly anticipated house debut as Tosca at La Monnaie in Brussels. On the concert stage, she appears with New Orleans Opera, Opera Italiana is in the Air in Central Park for Opera Unbound: A Sunset Serenade, gives a homecoming recital at Morgan State University with pianist Kevin Miller, and presents a recital at Pittsburg State University.

Last season, Hawkins returned to The Metropolitan Opera as Leonora in Il trovatore, made her role debut as Aida at Arizona Opera, and joined The Philadelphia Orchestra for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. She also curated and performed her own recital program C’est ainsi que tu es (That is how you are) at the Park Avenue Armory, and made her debut with The Apollo Orchestra in a concert of Verdi arias.

Highlights from previous seasons include Verdi’s Messa da Requiem conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin at The Metropolitan Opera and in her Los Angeles Philharmonic debut conducted by Gustavo Dudamel at The Hollywood Bowl. Other highlights include Anthony Davis’ X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X (Louise/Betty) with The Metropolitan Opera and Seattle Opera, and a house debut at Dutch National Opera in a new production of Il tabarro as Giorgetta directed by Barrie Kosky and conducted by Lorenzo Viotti, a house debut at the Opéra national de Paris in 7 Deaths of Maria Callas as Desdemona. She made her debuts with Des Moines Metro Opera in Porgy & Bess as Serena, with Portland Opera in Journeys to Justice, with Tulsa Opera in Greenwood Overcomes, and with the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen in Song of America: Celebration of Black Music. On the concert stage, Ms. Hawkins notably performed the Dvořák Requiem with American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

Leah received her Master of Music in Voice from Yale University and Bachelor of Arts in Music from Morgan State University.