Christine Lyons is a critically acclaimed operatic soprano based in the United States and Europe. Hailed as a “true virtuosa” (Broadway World), she has been praised for her “power and poise” (Classical Voice America), her “voice rich in nuances” (Pro Opera), and her “solid coloratura and legato” (Opera News). She has distinguished herself in leading roles across a wide range of repertoire, bringing emotional depth and vocal precision to performances that span traditional opera houses, immersive performance environments, and cross-disciplinary stages.

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In the 2024–25 season, Lyons appears with Knoxville Opera as Musetta in La Bohème, sings Heriodas in Stradella’s San Giovanni Battista with Catapult Opera, and joins Lyric Fest as a featured soloist in Nevertheless, She Sang. She sings high-profile gala performances for President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden alongside Billy Porter and Alan Cumming; for the UNHCR honoring Secretary Buttigieg, Governor Whitmer, and José Andrés; for the Ball for the Mall celebrating Dave Grohl, the Mellon Foundation, and director George C. Wolfe; and for the Denyce Graves Foundation. She also performs the National Anthem at the 25,000-seat Red Bull Arena for Gotham FC.

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Recent highlights include the title roles in Agrippina at Florida Grand Opera, La Straniera at Lincoln Center, Lucia di Lammermoor, Norma, and Tosca, as well as standout performances as Norina in Don Pasquale and the Governess in The Turn of the Screw. She has also appeared at San Francisco Opera, covering Leonora in Il Trovatore and Cleopatra in the world premiere of John Adams’ Antony and Cleopatra. She has performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, and her concert repertoire includes Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. As a recitalist, she has appeared with Lyric Fest at the Academy of Vocal Arts and with the Ravinia Steans Institute at Ravinia and the Tucson Desert Song Festival.

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Lyons began her career as an actor and dancer in the theater, where she developed an early fluency in character, language, and live storytelling. Her stage credits include a recent appearance as Mother Superior in The Sound of Music at Joe’s Pub in Sismas, as well as roles at People’s Light Theater and Goodspeed Opera House. She toured nationally in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and performed in Ragtime, A Little Night Music, All Shook Up, and other large-scale productions.

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Her recent work has expanded into immersive and interdisciplinary performance, including This Is a Test at The Shed in New York and The Me I Want to Sing at the Kennedy Center. She curated and premiered The Art of Perseverance in Richmond, a vocal recital created in collaboration with pianist Jonathan Heaney, integrating classical song, spoken poetry, and original movement. Lyons selected the vocal repertoire and poetry, spanning French, Italian, German, and English, commissioned choreography, and shaped the program’s overall concept and flow, blending disciplines to explore a deeply personal question of the moment. She also created Operascopic, a live talk series that explored reflections on the moment through music and artistic dialogue across opera and theatrical disciplines.

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With training at Carnegie Mellon University and further study in Milan and Salzburg, Lyons brings both technical command and interpretive nuance to each of her performances. She is the Grand Prize winner of the Mary Trueman Art Song Vocal Competition and has received top honors from the Gerda Lissner Foundation, Vocal Arts DC, Opera Columbus, the Washington International Competition, and others. Her work has been recognized in The New York Times, Opera News, Musical America, OperaWire, Palm Beach Arts Paper, and Opera Magazine (London).​​

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Selected Press

“Christine Lyons triumphs in the role of Norina… effortlessly brilliant, vivacious, clever… sparkling cadenzas… her head voice soaring.”
— Broadway World

 

“Lyons' musical and theatrical intelligence served her well… Her bel canto vocalism remained to the very last high Bb before departing the parapet.”
— OperaWire

 

“Christine Lyons delivered as Alaide… with great intensity… her voice soared to its maximum potential, expressing fury and madness.”
— OperaWire

 

“Christine Lyons as Agrippina made a convincing empress thanks to her grace, powerful presence, and rippling soprano.”
— Palm Beach Arts Paper

 

“She’s a true virtuosa, dazzling us with her mastery of all those Bel Canto coloratura fireworks—all the runs, trills and staccato arpeggios and cadenzas that decorate the long, free-ranging melody lines.”
— Broadway World