Mezzo-soprano Rehanna Thelwell is quickly becoming known for her magnetic performances and expressive vocal power in a wide variety of repertoire. With focuses on Classical and Modern works, Ms. Thelwell has helped create roles such as Angela Rose in The Listener's, Julia in Two Corners and the many characters in Opera Philadelphia's Complications in Sue. She made her mainstage debuts with Portland Opera portraying Dame Quickly as well as Queen Hippolyta in Atlanta Opera's A Midsummer Night's Dream. She also had the pleasure of performing the title role of Carmen at Washington National Opera, in a performance Parterre Box hailed as “a stupendous Carmen,”
A recent graduate of the Washington National Opera Cafritz Young Artist program, last season for Ms. Thelwell included her début at Dutch National Opera as Girlfriend/Congregant 3 in Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s Blue, roles which she reprised later in the season at Washington National Opera. She also made role débuts as Dinah/Anna I in Madison Opera’s double-bill of Trouble in Tahiti/The Seven Deadly Sins, returned to South Florida Symphony for Bruckner’s Te Deum, joined Bangor Symphony for Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, débuted with The Washington Chorus for Undine Smith Moore’s Scenes from the Life of a Martyr and the Duruflé Requiem, and reprised Scenes from the Life of a Martyr with Exigence Ensemble (Detroit, MI). This season, she joins San Francisco Opera as Katie Ellen/Caller and the cover of Fatima in Omar, makes her Atlanta Opera début at Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and joins Detroit Opera as the Forester’s Wife/ Owl in The Cunning Little Vixen.
In her final year as a Cafritz Young Artist, Ms. Thelwell was featured in a performance of the title role in Carmen at The Kennedy Center. She also appeared with Lyric Opera of Chicago as Ruby/Sinner Woman in Fire Shut Up in My Bones, a role she premiered with Opera Theatre St. Louis, for which Opera News praised her as a “standout” among the supporting cast. Additionally, she made her début with Opera Philadelphia as Jocasta in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex. Other roles at WNO included Third Lady in the Young Artist production of The Magic Flute as well as Conchetta in the American Opera Initiative new work, Night Trip. Along with her mainstage roles, Thelwell had the opportunity to workshop new works with Esperanza Spalding for Iphigenia and Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek for The Listeners. Additional recent engagements include joining the National Symphony Orchestra as the Narrator Portrait of a Queen, recording Blue with Washington National Opera, her mainstage début with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Aunt Lou in Highway 1, U.S.A, and Opera in the Park with Madison Opera.
Other recent engagements include her return Opera Philadelphia for their production of Complications in Sue as well as a return to Detroit Opera for their production of William Grant Still's Highway 1, USA. This season Ms. Thelwell will make her Belgian Debut at La Monnaie for their presentation of Romeo and Juliet and then venture to Madison for the World Premiere of Scott Gendel's Spacious Skies. Other productions that Ms. Thelwell was a part of include Opera Theatre of Saint Louis' Rigoletto as Giovanna and Ruby in Fire Shut Up in My Bones and her Carnegie Hall début with the Exigence Vocal Ensemble led by Dr. Eugene Rogers. Thelwell had the immense pleasure of performing alongside Talise Trevigne and Morris Robinson in The University Musical Society’s Porgy and Bess as Maria. She joined the Miami Music Festival Wagner Institute for a second time in their production of the Götterdämmerung prologue as the 2nd Norn. In her first year with the Wagner Institute, Thelwell had the privilege of sharing the stage with soprano Christine Goerke and bass-baritone Alan Held for their rendition of “The Ride of the Valkyries.” She was also invited to sing with the Kenai Peninsula Orchestra for their performance of Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky in Anchorage, Alaska and returned to perform a concert series through the Kenai Musical Society.
Thelwell began her studies in 2009 at Northern Arizona University under the instruction of Deborah Raymond. In 2014, she was accepted into the graduate program at the University of Michigan, where she joined the studio of Nadine Washington, returning in 2016 for her specialist degree.
Current as of June 19, 2026