Mezzo-Soprano Rehanna Thelwell has been applauded for her “superb” work by BroadwayWorld and has been singled out for her “dynamic presence” by The Washington Post. Her performances have been described as having “thrilling commitment and dramatic intelligence” with “hair-raising intensity” by the Washington Classical Review and KDHX.
In her most recent performances, the New Jersey native joined Opera Theatre of St. Louis to bring William Grant Still’s Highway 1, U.S.A. to the stage as well as return to the Cafritz Young Artist program for Washington National Opera’s 2021-22 season. Along with her mainstage roles, Thelwell has had the opportunity to perform Carlos Simon’s Portrait of a Queen with the National Symphony Orchestra and will be part of the world premiere of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s The Listeners.
In previous years, Thelwell returned to Opera Theater of Saint Louis’ 2019 season as Giovanna in Rigoletto and Ruby in their newly commissioned opera, Fire Shut up in my Bones. During the 2018 season, Thelwell made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Exigence Vocal Ensemble led by Dr. Eugene Rogers. Earlier that year Thelwell had the immense pleasure of performing alongside Talise Trevigne and Morris Robinson in The University Musical Society’s Porgy and Bess as Maria. During the summer, Thelwell joined the Miami Music Festival Wagner Institute for a second time in their production of the Götterdämmerung prologue as the 2nd Norn. In her first year with the Wagner Institute, Thelwell had the privilege of sharing the stage with soprano Christine Georke and bass-baritone Alan Held for their rendition of “The Ride of the Valkyries.” Thelwell was invited to sing with the Kenai Peninsula Orchestra for their performance of Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky in Anchorage, Alaska. She would later return to Alaska to perform a concert series through the Kenai Musical Society in early 2019.
Thelwell was actively involved with the University of Michigan Opera Theatre and Northern Arizona University Opera Theatre, where she performed the roles of Carlotta Vance in Bolcom’s Dinner at Eight, La Principessa from Suor Angelica, Cornelia from Giulio Cesare, Zita from Gianni Schicchi and Ježibaba from Rusalka. Through the University of Michigan Opera Theatre, Thelwell had the opportunity to premiere the San Francisco opera workshop production of Bright Sheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber as Lady Wang.
Thelwell began her studies in 2009 at Northern Arizona University under the instruction of Deborah Raymond. In 2014, she was accepted into the Graduate program at the University of Michigan and in 2016 returned for her specialist degree. During her time at the University of Michigan, Thelwell has studied with Professor Nadine Washington and Professor Daniel Washington. She has also had the pleasure of working with multiple professors in their respectable fields such as Kathleen Kelly, Timothy Cheek, Martin Katz, Dr. Jerry Blackstone and Dr. Eugene Rogers.
This upcoming season, Ms. Thelwell will make her house debut with Opera Philadelphia for their production of Oedipus Rex.
Thelwell resides in Silver Spring M.D.