Cecilia Duarte

A soloist in the GRAMMY Winner album Duruflé: The Complete Choral Works, Cecilia has been praised by The New York Times as "A creamy voiced mezzo-soprano." Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, Cecilia is a versatile singer that has performed around the world singing a variety of music styles, especially early and contemporary music. ​Cecilia has been greatly recognized for creating the role of Renata in the first Mariachi Opera Cruzar la Cara de la Luna with the famous Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, commissioned by Houston Grand Opera in 2010. Cecilia has taken this opera to stages such as the Houston Grand Opera (2013, 2018); Châtelet Theatre in Paris, France; Chicago Lyric Opera, San Diego Opera, Arizona Opera, The Fort Worth Opera, Teatro Nacional Sucre, in Quito, Ecuador, New York City Opera, and El Paso Opera. Since then, Cecilia has created other roles for world premieres of chamber operas and new works, such as A Coffin in Egypt, A Way Home, After the Storm, Some Light Emerges, and in Houston Grand Opera’s Telly Award-winning web opera series Star-cross’d. ​ Operatic roles include Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Loma Williams in Cold Sassy Tree, Isabella in Rapaccini’s Daughter, Sarelda in The Inspector, Tituba in The Crucible, and Maria in Maria de Buenos Aires, among others. Cecilia also premiered the prequel to Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, reprising the role of Renata in the world premiere of El Milagro del Recuerdo, with Houston Grand Opera (2019) and Arizona Opera (2021).​