SHANA BLAKE HILL, SOPRANO

(she/her) 

Hailed as an “excellent Soprano” by Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times and as “...a revelation” by LA Weekly, Soprano Shana Blake Hill has sung principal roles with: The Los Angeles Opera, Savonlinna Festival Opera (Finland), Dayton Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Long Beach Opera, Festival Opera, Santa Barbara Opera, Numi Opera, Minnesota Opera and Opera Southwest. She has been a featured soloist with: The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, The Seattle Symphony, The Pacific Symphony, The Naples Philharmonic, The North Carolina Symphony, The Pasadena Symphony, The Louisville Orchestra, and The Colorado Symphony. Hill is a Naxos and Sony recording artist. 

Her performance as Ghita in Zemlinky’s Der Zwerg at the Theater at Ace Hotel in DTLA was internarionally acclaimed. Hill’s interpretation of the title role in Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah with Festival Opera won her third place in the “Best Opera Singer” category in San Francisco Classical Voice “Best of the Bay” awards; the production won “Best New Discovery”. As Laura in Korngold’s Der Ring Des Polykrates, she garnered rave reviews in the L.A. and international Press. During the pandemic Hill performed A Veterans Voices World Premier with‪ LA Opera, and a series of LA Opera online concerts for USC Keck patients and medical staff. She was then commissioned by FM Opera in 2021 as librettist, director and performer of an original opera/short film entitled Sacajawea: Woman of Many Names (composer Dawn Avery) as part of the Decameron Collective’s online project entitled “Heroes”. Her 2023-24 seasons have included the title role in Bellini’s Norma with Festival Opera, a recital of Korngold, Schrekker and Weill with Numi Opera, a pops extravaganza with Folsom Lake Symphony, and excerpts from Othello and Forza del destino with Bryan Symphony. A recently published author with the UNC Press, Hill gave a solo recital based on her biography of her great-great grandfather Dr. Aaron M. Moore in Durham, North Carolina where he was a physician and founder of Durham’s Black Wall Street. She most recently portrayed Florence Price in Minnesota Opera’s new opera on the life of Florence Price entitled My Name is Florence by B. E. Boykin.