Sophia Maekawa

Praised for her “supple and buttery voice” (The New Criterion), Japanese-American mezzo-soprano Sophia Maekawa hails from Kyoto, Japan, and recently completed her tenure as a Ryan Opera Center ensemble member at Lyric Opera of Chicago. This summer, Ms. Maekawa reprised the role of Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with Opera Grand Rapids and debuted the role of Angelina in La Cenerentola with Wolf Trap Opera and Ozarks Lyric Opera, under the artistic leadership of acclaimed tenor Michael Spyres, and is excited to return to Art Song Chicago’s Collaborative Works Festival, where she performed last season.

Last season, Ms. Maekawa debuted with several companies, including San Francisco Opera, where she covered Crab General/ Venus Star in Monkey King with San Francisco Opera, Zwei Verkäuferin in Der Silbersee Chicago Opera Theater, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with Opera Williamsburg, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with Wolf Trap Opera and Soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with The Binghamton Philharmonic.

In the 2024–25 season, she sang the role of Cherubino as a Renée Fleming Artist at the Aspen Music Festival. She has also participated in numerous Apprentice Artist Programs, including Santa Fe Opera (2022) and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (2021).

As a Ryan Opera Center ensemble member, Ms. Maekawa appeared as Lee Ann in Missy Mazzoli’s The Listeners, Tisbe in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, and Pastuchyna in Janáček’s Jenůfa, as well as covering Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro. She also covered the role of Li Song in Aaron Zigman’s Émigré (U.S. premiere) with the New York Philharmonic.

Ms. Maekawa is the recipient of multiple awards and career grants, including the Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation (2025), the Virginia Cooper Maier Award from the Musicians Club of Women (2024), and a scholarship from the American Opera Society of Chicago (2024). She was a semifinalist in Houston Grand Opera’s “Concert of Arias” Eleanor McCollum Competition in 2022, won first prize at the Tokyo International Vocal Music Competition in 2020, and was a finalist in the 2020 Music Competition of Japan, where she received the Tokyo Shinbun Award.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music.