American soprano Hannah De Priest is a fearless performer especially renowned for her “masterful” (Olyrix) performances of Baroque repertoire. Consistently described as a “standout” and praised for her “bright, ideally-focused sound, allied to a probing expressive intelligence” (Chicago Classical Review), the young soprano enjoys a flourishing career in North America and Europe. Recent highlights include debuts with the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra (Bach’s Johannes-Passion), the Innsbruck Early Music Festival (Gilde, L’amazzone corsara), and her Kennedy Center debut with Opera Lafayette (Serpina, La servante maîtresse). With the storied Boston Early Music Festival, she has performed lead roles across multiple productions.
Her 2025-26 season includes three operatic tellings of the Orfeo myth; Gluck’s Orfeo (Amore, Music of the Baroque), Jacopo Peri’s Eurydice (Dafne, Haymarket Opera), and Monteverdi’s Orfeo with Ars Lyrica Houston (Proserpina). She also returns to the Boston Early Music Festival for her first title role with the company in Provenzale’s La Stellidaura vendicante. On the concert stage, she will perform Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Washington Bach Consort, Handel’s Messiah with the St. Louis Bach Festival, and headline a concert and tour of Handelian cantatas with Les Délices. Her debut solo album with the ensemble is set to release in Spring 2026.
Hannah has earned acclaim at numerous international competitions, winning 2nd Prize at the Cesti Competition for Baroque Opera in 2021. She is also a laureate of the London Handel Competition, the Handel Aria Competition, Le Concours Corneille, the Bethlehem Bach Festival, and the Luminarts Cultural Foundation Competition.