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Kayleigh Decker

Mezzo-soprano

  • Praised for her ‘shimmering mezzo-soprano' and a voice of ‘pure vocal gold’, American mezzo-soprano Kayleigh Decker is quickly garnering an international reputation for her artistry and versatility in opera and on the concert platform.

    Highlights of the 2026/27 season include her house debut as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro for LA Opera, her house and role debut as Stephano in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette at Teatr Wielki and her return to Staatsoper Hamburg as Zephyrus in Mozart’s Die Grosse Stille – a role she created in her house debut last season. On the concert platform, Decker will make debuts with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in Handel’s Messiah (John Butt), with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra singing Haydn’s Nelson Mass (Carlos Miguel Prieto) and with Holland Symphony Orchestra in Marx’s Verklärtes Jahr. Decker returns to the Apollo Chorus of Chicago in Handel’s Messiah.

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  • Recent operatic highlights for Decker include a series of house and role debuts, including as Erika in Barber’s Vanessa for Festival Dei Due Mondi Spoleto, Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni with Staatsoper Stuttgart & Florentine Opera, Zephyrus in Die Grosse Stille at Staatsoper Hamburg, Wellgunde in Wagner’s Das Rheingold at Opéra de Monte-Carlo, the title role in Glass’ La Belle et la Bete for Atlanta Opera, Mercedes in Bizet’s Carmen for Cincinnati Opera and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro at Chicago Lyric Opera. Elsewhere Decker has sung Dorabella in Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte for Dallas Opera & Welsh National Opera, Ruggiero in Handel’s Alcina with Les Violons du Roy, Isolier in Rossini’s Le Comte Ory for Chicago Lyric Opera, Miss Inkley in Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Oratorio for Cincinnati Opera, as well as covering Angelina in Rossini’s La Cenerentola for Boston Lyric Opera & Cherubino in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at The Metropolitan Opera.

    Highlights on the concert platform include Messiah with Seattle Symphony Orchestra (Aram Demirjian) and with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Mogens Dahl), Stravinsky’s Les Noces with the San Francisco Symphony and Orchestre de Paris (Esa Pekka Salonen), Mozart’s Requiem with the orchestra of Welsh National Opera (Tomáš Hanus), Ethel Smyth’s Mass in D at Washington National Cathedral (Steven Fox), Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Cincinnati College of Music and at Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Colburn School (Earl Lee) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Grant Park Music Festival (Carlos Kalmar).

    A passionate song interpreter, she was named one of Caramoor’s 2018 Schwab Vocal Rising Stars and was a participant in the inaugural season of Renée Fleming’s SongStudio at Carnegie Hall. She has given recitals produced by the Cincinnati Song Initiative, Pelican Hill recital series, the SOKA Performing Arts Center for Mahler Ruckert Lieder, and taken part in the ‘Beyond the Aria’ recital series at the Harris Theater, Chicago.

    In 2019, Decker was the recipient of three prestigious scholarships: the Luminarts Fellowship, first place in the Musicians Club of Women Scholarship Competition, and a Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation. Further accolades include first place in the Three Arts Scholarship Fund Competition and The Macdowell Society Scholarship Award in Cincinnati, second place in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions-Great Lakes Region, first place in the CCM Corbett Competition, and the Encouragement award in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions-Cincinnati District in 2016.

    Decker was a young artist at the Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and the Utah Festival Opera, followed by time as an ensemble member of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago. Other training programs include the Houston Grand Opera Young Artists Vocal Academy and Oberlin in Italy. She also participated in the first of Joyce DiDonato’s Masterclass Series at Carnegie Hall, streamed live on Medici.tv.

    2026/27 season / 617 words. Not to be altered without permission

Performances

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'Every note that Decker, the possessor of a shimmering mezzo-soprano, sang was pure vocal gold.'

Seenandheard.com

'The finest overall performance of the afternoon was delivered by Kayleigh Decker in the trousers role of Isolier. The tall mezzo-soprano, a Ryan Center alum, sang with easy fluency and even tone, wholly embodying the energy and adolescent swagger of the page who is besotted with Adèle.'

Chicago Classical Review

Intermusica represents Kayleigh Decker

Natasha Worsley
Associate Director, Vocal & Opera
+44 7870 979 794
nworsley@intermusica.com

Billie Allin
Assistant Artist Manager, Vocal & Opera
+44 7548 312 979
ballin@intermusica.com

All artists

Contralto

Avery Amereau

Actor / Narrator

Amira Casar

Chansonnier

HK Gruber

Piano accompanist

Roger Vignoles

Saxophone

Branford Marsalis