Home | Claudia Chapa

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Celebrated for her "arresting stage presence" coupled with "exquisite sensitivity," Mexican Claudia Chapa is a versatile performer in high demand across the nation. This season, Ms. Chapa made her Houston Grand Opera debut originating the role of Josefina in the world premiere of El Milagro del Recuerdo, a role she will reprise in her debut with Arizona Opera in 2020-2021 (now postponed due to COVID-19.) Other highlights this season include recording Handel’s Messiah with the Royal Philharmonic at the famed Abbey Roads Studios, a return to Alabama Symphony as featured soloist in El amor brujo (de Falla) and Neruda Songs (Lieberson), and house and role debuts as Fenena (Nabucco) with West Bay Opera.

Notable recent engagements include her “powerful” Azucena (Il trovatore) with St. Petersburg Opera Company, Winter Opera St. Louis, and Opera in Williamsburg; Ortrud (Lohengrin) and Hedwige (William Tell) with Opera Southwest; Mary (The Flying Dutchman) and Dryade (Ariadne auf Naxos) with Austin Opera; her “earthy, distinctive” Fairy Godmother in the US premiere of Alma Deutscher’s Cinderella with Opera San Jose; her “show-stopping” Berta (Il barbiere di Sivigilia) with San Antonio Opera; Zita (Gianni Schicchi) and Zia Principessa (Suor Angelica) with St. Petersburg Opera; Zita (Gianni Schicchi and Buoso’s Ghost) with Opera Delaware and Baltimore Concert Opera; Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro) with Charlottesville Opera; Ulrica (Un ballo in maschera), her “purring, inky” Madame Flora (The Medium) and The Witch (Hänsel und Gretel) with Opera in the Heights; Bloody Mary (South Pacific) with Gulf Coast Symphony; her “hilarious” Dame Quickly (Falstaff) with Winter Opera St. Louis and Opera in the Heights; Marthe (Faust) with Indianapolis Opera; Third Lady (Die Zauberflӧte) with The Glimmerglass Festival and Austin Lyric Opera; and Alisa (Lucia di Lammermoor) with Winter Opera St. Louis.

Claudia debuted Carnegie Hall in 2015 and remains an active concert performer, most recently heard as mezzo soloist for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Verdi’s Requiem, and Handel’s Messiah with DCINY at Carnegie Hall. She’s also performed Bruckner’s Te Deum and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in addition to the aforementioned oratorios with Alabama Symphony, Gulf Coast Symphony, Austin Symphony, Florida Orchestra, and Evansville Philharmonic.

Ms. Chapa is a grant recipient from the Olga Forrai Foundation for exceptionally large, dramatic voices in the field of opera, and holds a bachelor’s degree from the Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin. She currently resides in Austin with her husband and two glorious chihuahuas.

"...Claudia Chapa. She's a powerful mezzo-soprano with a gift for the intense drama that this story so strongly requires. Brava to her!"
- Steve Callahan, BroadwayWorld

"Mezzo Claudia Chapa... sings with real power and acts with great conviction. 'Stride la vampa,' the aria in which she describes how her mother was burned as a witch and her need for vengeance, was very compelling,"
- Chuck Lavassi, KDHX.org

"Claudia Chapa utilized her accomplished mezzo-soprano voice to articulate the injustices and frustrations endured by Azucena as well as her enduring maternal love for Manrico."
- Mark Bretz, Ladue News

"Mezzo-soprano Claudia Chapa delivered one of the opera's strongest performances as Azucena... Chapa owns a lovely and richly deep voice, and endowed the role of Azucena with a wild abundance."
- Andrew Meacham, Tampa Bay Times

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"The four soloists, the “A-Team,” all brought their “A game” today...Mezzo-soprano Claudia Chapa continues to astonish with her robust voice (with the added reality of the orchestra often being in the same register), but her exquisite sensitivity in her shaping of phrases was truly striking. Her He was despised was, as before, this listener’s favorite. "

- Jeffrey Williams, New York Concert Review

"Mezzo-soprano Claudia Chapa, with arguably the most to contend with in terms of balance against a similar range orchestrally, emerged victorious with her warm burnished phrases. What struck one about this singer was her musical sensitivity in subtly inflecting her held notes in 'O thou that tellest good tidings in Zion.' She seemed responsive to each nuance in the orchestral parts, performing as a true ensemble member. Also excellent was her 'He was despised.'"

- Rorianne Schrade, New York Concert Review

Claudia Chapa, mezzo-soprano, sang with absolute heart, so much so that I wished 'He was despised' was not cut, but would go on forever... All afternoon her phrases were of admirable length, she seems to have unlimited air supply.
- Frank Daykin, New York Concert Review

"Mezzo-soprano Claudia Chapa... projected well throughout. She wrung every drop of despair out of He was despised, in what was the highlight of her solos."
- Jeffrey Williams, New York Concert Review

"The four soloists were all up to the operatic demands of their parts, but special mention must be made of Claudia Chapa, a Mexican mezzo-soprano, who has the true Verdi heft and color in her powerful voice."
- Frank Daykin, New York Concert Review

"Chapa’s exquisite, velvety voice was a pleasure to hear throughout. Her superb breath control, fluid legato, and responsive phrasing was shaped by an unostentatious sensibility and unmistakable polish. Her careful nuancing in the 'Lux aeterna' did not seem to pray for the light so much as be it."

- Edward Forstman, artsBHAM

"Claudia Chapa, mezzo-soprano, has been heard numerous times in DCINY performances, and her strong, warm lyricism never disappoints. "

- New York Concert Review

"As Emiline, ... Ms. Chapa came into her own in the finale of Act I, when her earthy, distinctive mezzo first caressed lush passages, then at last roared and soared."
- James Sohre, Opera Today

"Mezzo-soprano Claudia Chapa showed off crunchy low notes as Emeline, the fairy godmother who brings the lovers together."

- Ilana Walder-Biesanz, San Francisco Classical Voice

"It is, of course, Emeline, her fairy-godmother, played by Claudia Chapa, whose round and sonorous voice, particularly in the middle register – she plays Azucena in other productions – who helps make this happen."

- Lois Silverstein, Opera Wire

"Raquel González, Aleksandra Romano, and Claudia Chapa were beautifully matched as the First, Second and Third Ladies, respectively. Their warm, appealing voices and excellent diction blended well yet each displayed an individual vocal and dramatic personality." - James Sohre, Opera Today

"The slapstick trio of the queen's ladies-in-waiting, Raquel Gonzalez, Aleksandra Romano and Claudia Chapa, illuminate the stage with their sensual antics and dazzle with their singing."

- Linda Loomis, Syracuse.com

"The Three Ladies of Raquel Gonzalez, Aleksandra Romano, and Claudia Chapa were charming and lusty." - Taminophile

"Mezzo-soprano Claudia Chapa was hilarious as Dame Quickly, go-between extraordinaire. Chapa is a true and talented mezzo..."

- Sarah Bryan Miller, St. Louis Post-Disptach

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"Berta, the maid, has only one significant number, but it was a show-stopper as sung by soprano Claudia Chapa, who earned a thunderous ovation."

- Mike Greenburg, San Antonio

Incident Light

"Chapa, memorable from OH's past seasons as a bouncy Mistress Quickly in Falstaff and a gleeful witch in Hansel and Gretel, possesses a purring inky mezzo that envelops Menotti's dramatic lines with probing depth and nuance. When she goes bonkers, stand back."

- D. L. Groover, Houston Press

"In the role of Madam Flora...the mezzo-soprano Claudia Chapa sang and acted with commanding power and conviction."
- William Albright

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"But Ballo blossomed when ...Chapa appeared. ... Ulrica only appears in Act I, but it's a stunner of a cameo. As prophetess, she summons Satan in volcanic incantation and thoroughly rules the stage. Chapa accomplishes this with magnetic presence and booming contralto. She's a dangerous, crazy bag lady, and Chapa's great scene is Grammy-worthy."
- D. L. Groover, Houston Press

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"Credit must also be made to her hilarious group of back-up performers, a trio of nymphs played in perfect balance by Sara Ann Mitchell, Claudia Chapa, and Megan Pachecano."

- Austin Arts Watch

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"Mezzo-soprano Claudia Chapa has an arresting stage presence, and her powerful resonance, coupled with her warm timbre and deep understanding of the material, is spellbinding. In Dvorák's 'Songs My Mother Taught Me,' she sings of a child's cherished, mournful memory with lovely, expressive color in her anguish. And in Schubert's aptly chosen 'Der Tod und das Mädchen,' Chapa's potent approach in her confrontation with Death adds depth to the drama. Chapa is a world-class talent whose vocal power is matched by her organic and genuine approach to the character, and watching her is a meditative experience."

- Michelle Haché, The Austin Chronicle

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"The first mezzo-soprano to really strike me was Claudia Chapa as Hedwige. Her rich voice soared through the hall, and she commanded us to watch her every move with her elegant presence. "

-Rachel Sadler, Operagasm