Rehanna THELWELL

Hailed for her “gorgeous and distinctive instrument” and “considerable presence,” mezzo-soprano Rehanna Thelwell is quickly becoming known for her magnetic performances and expressive vocal power in a wide variety of repertoire. With focuses on classical and modern works, Ms. Thelwell has helped create roles such as Angela Rose in The Listener's, Julia in Two Corners, and the many characters in Opera Philadelphia's Complications in Sue. The 2025-2026 season saw Ms. Thelwell’s return to both Opera Philadelphia for Complications in Sue and Atlanta Opera as Sarah in a workshop of Steele Roots (Ragland/Sahin). In the upcoming 2026-2027 season, Ms. Thelwell will make her Belgian Debut at La Monnaie for their presentation of Roméo et Juliette and join the Madison Symphony Orchestra for the world premiere of Scott Gendel's Spacious Skies.

In the 2024-2025 season, Ms. Thelwell returned to Detroit Opera as Aunt Lou in Highway 1, USA, made her mainstage debut with Portland Opera as Dame Quickly in Falstaff, joined Atlanta Opera in the world premiere of Steele Roots (Ragland/Sahin), and sang as Mother Goose in The Rake's Progress with Opera Omaha. She also joined Nashville Opera and Louisiana Opera as Kendra in The Cook-off (Okpebholo/Campbell). Other recent highlights include joining San Francisco Opera as Katie Ellen/Caller and the cover of Fatima in Omar, making her Atlanta Opera debut as Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, joining Detroit Opera as the Forester’s Wife/Owl in The Cunning Little Vixen, portraying Angela Rose in The Listeners with Opera Philadelphia, and singing as Julia in a workshop of Two Corners (Boykin/Lee) with Finger Lakes Opera. Ms. Thelwell has also performed as Giovanna in Rigoletto with Opera Theatre of St. Louis and made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Exigence Vocal Ensemble led by Dr. Eugene Rogers. She appeared with Lyric Opera of Chicago as Ruby/Sinner Woman in Fire Shut Up in My Bones, a role she premiered with Opera Theatre St. Louis, for which Opera News praised her as a “standout” among the supporting cast. In 2022, she made her debut with Opera Philadelphia as Jocasta in Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex.

A graduate of the Washington National Opera Cafritz Young Artist program, Ms. Thelwell was featured in the title role of Carmen at The Kennedy Center in a performance Parterre Box hailed as “stupendous.” Other roles at WNO included Third Lady in the Young Artist production of The Magic Flute as well as Conchetta in the American Opera Initiative new work, Night Trip. Along with her mainstage roles, Thelwell had the opportunity to workshop new works with Esperanza Spalding for Iphigenia and Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek for The Listeners.

2022-2023 included her debut at Dutch National Opera as Girlfriend/Congregant 3 in Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s Blue, roles which she reprised later in the season at Washington National Opera. She also made role debuts as Dinah/Anna I in Madison Opera’s double-bill of Trouble in Tahiti/The Seven Deadly Sins, returned to South Florida Symphony for Bruckner’s Te Deum, joined Bangor Symphony for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, debuted with The Washington Chorus for Undine Smith Moore’s Scenes from the Life of a Martyr and the Duruflé Requiem, and reprised Scenes from the Life of a Martyr with Exigence Ensemble. Additional recent engagements included joining the National Symphony Orchestra as the Narrator in Portrait of a Queen, recording Blue with Washington National Opera, her mainstage debut with Opera Theatre of St. Louis as Aunt Lou in Highway 1, U.S.A, and Opera in the Park with Madison Opera.

Thelwell has performed alongside Talise Trevigne and Morris Robinson in The University Musical Society’s Porgy and Bess as Maria. She 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 Goerke and bass-baritone Alan Held for their rendition of “The Ride of the Valkyries.” She was also invited to sing with the Kenai Peninsula Orchestra for their performance of Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky in Anchorage, Alaska and returned to perform a concert series through the Kenai Musical Society.

Thelwell earned her undergraduate degree from Northern Arizona University and both her master's and specialist degrees from the University of Michigan.