Photo of Sun-Ly Pierce by Jiyang Chen
Bard College Conservatory of Music Presents
Alumni/ae Spotlight: Sun-Ly Pierce '19, mezzo-soprano, with Kayo Iwama, piano
Saturday, September 19, 2026
Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space
4:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Works by Rossini, Lieberson and Crawford-Seeger.4:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Chinese-American mezzo-soprano Sun-Ly Pierce, Third Prize Winner of the 2024 Operalia competition, is rapidly establishing herself as a versatile and dynamic artist in both traditional and contemporary repertoire.
Sun-Ly’s 26/27 season begins with her return to Houston Grand Opera for Faust (Siebel) and Boston Lyric Opera for Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino). Other highlights of the season include Handel’s Messiah with Boston Baroque and the Houston Symphony, Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Mozart's Requiem and Mass in C minor on tour with Les Musiciens du Louvre. She also returns to the stage at Carnegie Hall for a solo recital presented by the Music Academy of the West. Sun-Ly concludes the season at The Santa Fe Opera in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Rosina). Future engagements include leading roles at the New National Theatre Tokyo, Houston Grand Opera, and The Metropolitan Opera.
During the 25/26 season, Sun-Ly returned to The Metropolitan Opera for the world premiere of Mason Bates’ The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (Rosa Saks) conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and directed by Bartlett Sher. Other highlights of the season included debuts at LA Opera for Akhnaten (Nefertiti), Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and Théâtre de Caen for La Calisto (Diana), Semperoper Dresden and The Santa Fe Opera for Madama Butterfly (Suzuki), and Madison Opera for Così fan tutte (Dorabella).
Sun-Ly’S 24/25 season included returns to notable theaters including The Metropolitan Opera in Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino), Opera Philadelphia in L’amant anonyme (Dorothée), and Des Moines Metro Opera in The Cunning Little Vixen (Fox).
She has won top prizes in the Marilyn Horne Song Competition, Dallas Opera National Vocal Competition, and Butler Opera International Voice Competition. A native of Clinton, New York, she holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Bard College Conservatory of Music.
Free and open to the public.
For more information, call 845-758-7196, or e-mail [email protected].
Time: 4:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Location: Bitó Conservatory Building, Performance Space
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