Bio
Kira Dills-DeSurra is a vibrant American mezzo-soprano whose magnetic stage presence communicates effortless charm and truth. A champion of new and rarely performed works, Dills-DeSurra has appeared in many American premieres, and she also cultivates skills in musical improvisation and circus arts as part of her broad-ranging palate of storytelling tools.
Dills-DeSurra is excited to be celebrating two amazing Denver opera company anniversaries this year. She will be singing Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus with Central City Opera for their 90th season and Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana with Opera Colorado for their 40th anniversary. This season she will also be featured as Lissette in Opera Colorado’s professional recording of Steal a Pencil for Me, Tilda in Lori Laitman’s The Three Feathers with Opera Steamboat, and Frida Kahlo in Central City’s production of Frida Kahlo and the Bravest Girl in the World.
Previously she was an Artist in Residence with Opera Colorado singing roles such as Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Flora (La traviata), Gertrude Stein (Tom Cipullo’s After Life), and Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro). She was also featured in touring productions as Stéphano (Roméo et Juliette), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel), and the title role in Carmen.
Dills-DeSurra was also an Apprentice Artist in Central City Opera’s 2018 and 2017 summer festivals, performing Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), covering Ines (Il trovatore), featuring as a soloist in Encore: A Musical Revue, and singing Mercédès (Carmen).
Dills-DeSurra has also endeavored into early music, playing Diana/Giove in Diana in La Calisto with Opera NEO. The same season she joined San Diego Symphony as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream under Maestro Rafael Payare.
She made her role debut as Vera Boronel in a Chicago Opera Theater and Long Beach Opera co-production of The Consul in 2017. With Chicago Opera Theater and Long Beach Opera, she was also featured as Nurse and Secretary in Glass’s The Perfect American, Isolde of the White Hands in Frank Martin’s Le Vin Herbé, and Lysander (cover) in The Fairy Queen. Additional credits with Chicago Opera Theater include La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi, Cecilio (cover) in Mozart’s Lucio Silla, and Mary in the Chicago premiere of Amy Beach’s Cabildo. Dills-DeSurra is a graduate of the Chicago Opera Theater Young Artist Program.
Hailing from Petaluma, California, Dills-DeSurra earned a Master of Music and Artist Diploma from Roosevelt University: Chicago College of Performing Arts and a Bachelor of Music from University of Southern California.