Leila Kirves
Vancouver soprano Leila Kirves is a quickly rising emerging voice, making her mark as a “colorful and charismatic” (Opera Canada) performer. This season, Leila joined the prestigious Gerdine Young Artist Program at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, where she covered the title role of Puccini’s Tosca.
Leila’s recent operatic credits have included First Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Giulietta in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Anna-Liese Franz in the Canadian premier of Mieczysław Weinberg's The Passenger, the Countess in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, The Secretary in Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Consul, and the Foreign Princess in Dvořák’s Rusalka.
In December 2021, Leila was selected as a winner of the Canada district of the Laffont Competition (Metropolitan Opera), and in March 2022, placed third in the Northwest Regionals. This year, Leila was the first recipient of the newly established Rose Ellen Nichols Award in Voice, and a finalist for Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 24/25 Ryan Opera Center. She has also been the recipient of prizes from the Vancouver Opera Guild, the Vancouver Opera Foundation Fund, and the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation for Young Opera Singers.
Leila has since earned her masters degree in opera performance from the University of British Columbia, and a subsequent diploma in opera performance from UBC.
January 2024
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“Pride of place must go to Leila Kirves for her multi-layered performance as the conflicted Lisa... Kirves wisely played the character as a potentially flawed human being rather than as a monster, and her admirably wide range of vocal and dramatic expression were put to good use in differentiating her respective roles.”
