Kresley Figueroa

Puerto Rican soprano, Kresley Figueroa, is a second-year Cafritz Young Artist with Washington National Opera. Her roles with WNO last season included Partenope in Handel’s Partenope, Berginella in an English adaptation of Offenbach’s La Périchole, and The Unicorn in Tesori’s The Lion, The Unicorn, and Me. This season, Kresley performs the roles of Chrisann Brennan in Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs and Bagheera in Tesori’s Jungle Book.

Other recent highlights include Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff, performing alongside Bryn Terfel in the title role and under the baton of Patrick Summers with The Aspen Music Festival, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni with OPERA San Antonio, conducted by Robert Tweten. Kresley has also appeared in concert and sung with Grammy Award winners Ana María Martínez, with Grammy-nominated pianist Myra Huang, and Susan Graham.

In 2024, Kresley was awarded First Place and the Audience Favorite prize in The James Toland Vocal Arts Competition, was named a winner of The Capital District of The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, won First Place in the Kyrenia Opera Vocal Competition, and awarded Third Prize in Florida Grand Opera’s National Voice Competition. In 2023, she was named a winner of the Duncan Williams Voice Competition for her performance in the Black and Latinx Song Presentation.

Kresley is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Rice University.