A native of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, mezzo-soprano Hannah Shea is passionate about exploring a wide range of repertoire. Most recently, Hannah appeared as Nelda in Taking Up Serpents by Kamala Sankaram at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. While at Carnegie Mellon University, she sang Fidalma in productions of Domenico Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto, the Third Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and as Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus by J. Strauss. Hannah previously attended the Brevard Music Center where she covered the Old Lady in Leonard Bernstein’s Candide and appeared as a Street Singer soloist in Leonard Bernstein’s Mass. In 2019 Hannah premiered and recorded a new song cycle dedicated to her previous teacher, Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Mildred Miller, with the Carnegie Mellon University Contemporary Ensemble entitled Songs of Strength, composed by Marilyn Taft Thomas with poetry by Maya Angelou. Hannah was a finalist in the 2020 Mildred Miller International Voice Competition and the 2020 Houston Saengerbund Awards. She was also a finalist in the 2020 Grand Concours Vocal Competition in Austin, TX, which was unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19. Hannah is currently pursuing her Master’s of Music in Vocal Performance at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University where she studies with Dr. Robin Rice. She holds her bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from Carnegie Mellon University where she studied with acclaimed mezzo-soprano Mildred Miller Posvar.