Grace Heldridge is an American mezzo-soprano from Omaha, Nebraska, and an incoming Resident Artist at  l'Académie de l'Opéra National de Paris for the 2026/27 season. This summer, she joins The Glimmerglass Festival as a Resident Artist, covering Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and performing as Armina/Ensemble in Francesca Zambello’s new production of Oklahoma!

 

Grace recently completed two seasons as a member of the International Opera studio at Komische Oper Berlin, where her performances included Flora in La Traviata, Die Junge Frau/Alt Solistin in Kirill Serebrennikov’s Don Giovanni/Requiem, Ysätters-Kajsa/Bäuerin in Nils Holgerssons wunderbare Abenteuer, and Ein Sklave in Salome. Previous appearances with the company include Windhexe/Gemüsefrau in Die kleine Hexe, Nes in Consistent Fantasy is Reality, and Amy Lawrence in Tom Sawyer, in addition to numerous concerts with the Komische Oper Berlin Orchestra.

 

In the summer of 2024, Heldridge joined Opera Maine as a Studio Artist, performing as Performer #2 in Ricky Ian Gordon and Mark Campbell’s Rappahannock County. She previously trained as a Bonfils-Stanton Apprentice Artist at Central City Opera, where she received the Cady Young Artist Award, and as a two-time Emerging Artist at the Seagle Festival.

 

The 2023/24 season brought a wide range of concert and stage appearances across the country, including Ravel’s Shéhérazade with the Brookline Symphony Orchestra, Mozart’s Requiem in D-minor with the Glens Falls Symphony, Bach’s Cantata BWV 140  with The Trinity Choir, and FUSE: Collaborations in Song with  Catalyst New Music. ​​Grace was a 2025 Semi-Finalist in both the Antonio Cesti International Baroque Singing Competition at the Innsbrucker Festwochen Der Alten Musik, and The London Handel Festival's International Handel Singing Competition, as well as a prize winner at the Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg International Vocal Competition. Previous competition successes include First Prize in the Wilkinson Young Singers Fund Competition, the Tulsa District Encouragement Award at The Metropolitan Opera  Laffont Competition, and First-Prize Winner of the Barbara Rondelli Statewide Vocal Competition.

 

Heldridge holds a Master of Music in Opera Performance from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee,  where she studied with Rebecca Folsom and was the Miles A. Fish III Scholar. She received a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from The University of Kansas, studying under Joyce Castle, and was awarded the Haven Preyer Award for Voice. During her studies, Grace performed a wide range of roles, including Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Sesto in Giulio Cesare in Egitto, Lazuli in L’Étoile, Hermia in Britten's A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hannah Older in As One, Mrs. Ott in Susannah, Nancy in Albert Herring, Annio in La clemenza di Tito, The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, and Judge Dodsworth in Matthew Peterson's Voir Dire.​

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