Kaileigh Riess has been seen most recently as Maria Bertram (Mansfield Park) and as Anne Trulove (The Rake's Progress) with the BU Opera Institute. This season she was named a Boston District winner in the 2021 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and continues to compete as in the finals of the Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition in May and the Lotte Lenya Competition in August. Though her performance Monica in The Medium has been cancelled due to COVID-19 safety, she will sing with The Music Academy of the West as a vocal fellow and participate in their newly imagined summer season. Kaileigh received her masters at the University of Southern California, where she performed La Contessa (Le nozze di Figaro) and Morgana (Alcina). She made her professional recital debut with pianist Brent McMunn at the Boston Court Theatre of Pasadena as one of their Emerging Artists of 2019. With Central City Opera, Kaileigh performed the roles of Lola (Gallantry), Rose (Later the Same Evening), and Silver Dollar (The Ballad of Baby Doe). There, she received the Young Artist Award for Excellence and the Dorsey Family Award. At Northwestern University (BM in Voice and a BA in English), Kaileigh sang Laurie (The Tender Land), Blanche (Dialogues of the Carmelites), and Elaine (Later the Same Evening). Kaileigh has a passion for interpreting new music and worked closely with composer Timothy Peterson and poet Sara Fetherolf in the creation and world premiere of Harp My Bones, a song cycle for voice and piano. Currently, Kaileigh is working with Peterson on a new commission.