Mezzo-soprano Rehanna Thelwell is quickly becoming known for her magnetic performances and expressive vocal power in a wide variety of repertoire. After completing the Washington National Opera Cafritz Young Artists program, she made a notable mainstage debut in the title role of Carmen at the Kennedy Center, with Parterre Box describing her performance as “stupendous.”

In the upcoming season, Rehanna will return to several leading opera companies across the country, starting at Detroit Opera with her portrayal of Aunt Lou in Highway 1, USA, then joining Opera Philadelphia to perform the world premiere of Tony Award–winning playwright Michael R. Jackson’s Complications in Sue. She rounds out the season at Atlanta Opera singing Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro. Future seasons will bring exciting house debuts across the globe for Rehanna including a highly anticipated production at Le théâtre royal de la Monnaie in Belgium.

Last season, Rehanna returned to Opera Philadelphia to sing Angela Rose in the American premiere of The Listeners, a piece she previously workshopped with Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek. She also performed as Mother Goose at Opera Omaha in The Rake’s Progress, made her debut with Portland Opera as Quickly in Verdi’s Falstaff, and joined Nashville Opera and New Orleans Opera as Kendra in The Cook-Off, working alongside the musical duo of Shawn E. Okpebholo and Mark Campbell. Moreover, Rehanna recently performed at San Francisco Opera as Katie Ellen/The Caller and covered Fatima in Omar, made her debut with Atlanta Opera as Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, joined Detroit Opera as the Forester’s Wife/Owl in The Cunning Little Vixen, and appeared at Finger Lakes Opera as Julia in Two Corners by composer B.E. Boykin and librettist Jarrod Lee.

Rehanna began her studies in 2009 at Northern Arizona University under the tutelage of Deborah Raymond. She was accepted into the graduate program at the University of Michigan in 2014, where she joined the studio of Nadine Washington, and returned in 2016 for her specialist degree.