Hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as a “robust soprano with pinpoint dynamic control,” Mexican-American Soprano, Celeste Morales is quickly gaining recognition as a dynamic and expressive artist, celebrated for her radiant tone and compelling stage presence. Morales was recently awarded the Dietrich Memorial Award at the Opera Index Vocal Competition and competed at the prestigious Tenor Viñas Competition in Barcelona, Spain. This season, she joins the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival as a featured soloist in Lang Lang’s “The Disney Book” under the baton of Edwin Outwater. A passionate performer, she was named a finalist and grant recipient by the Wagner Society of New York, the Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition, and the Opera Florham International Vocal Competition.
Her recent operatic roles include a poignant turn as Mrs. Grose in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw with Opera Ithaca, and reprised the role of La Malinche by Nathan Felix—this time for the inaugural Opera Austin Festival. Celeste’s orchestral and concert work includes her debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s Spectacular under the baton of George Stelluto, as well as performances as the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem at West End Collegiate Church and Brahms’ Requiem with the Florilegium Chamber Choir. She was a featured artist on the Winspear Opera House stage for the Dallas Opera Vocal Competition and earned Second Place in the Soprano Art Song Category at the George Shirley Vocal Competition. An avid recitalist with a deep reverence for storytelling, Celeste recently completed her second summer as a Vocal Fellow with the prestigious Ravinia Steans Music Institute, affirming her voice as both a thoughtful and emotionally resonant interpreter of song.
She is a first prize winner of the Giulio Gari International Vocal Competition and a former finalist for the Ryan Opera Center Ensemble at Lyric Opera of Chicago. In 2022, she returned to the Merola Opera Program, performing as Rosalba in Catan’s Florencia en el Amazonas for their Schwabacher Scenes Concert featuring prominent works by Latin American and Spanish composers. She appeared as a soloist in A Celebration of American Song alongside Grammy-award-winning pianist Craig Terry, and performed excerpts from Verdi’s Falstaff (Alice) and Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz (Suzel) on the San Francisco Opera-War Memorial stage. In 2021, she joined the Utopia Arts Mentorship Program and appeared in the Merola Opera Program’s Back Home: Through the Stage Door, which was awarded Best Musical Film at the New York International Film Awards. She performed the title role in La Malinche for Hispanic Heritage Month at the San Antonio Museum of Art, and also appeared in the immersive opera The War Bride at the High Line Nine Gallery in NYC. In 2020, she was named an Emerging Artist with the Living Music Institute and was selected to perform with the Mississippi University Orchestra as their featured Aria Competition Winner. Celeste has continued to explore a wide range of repertoire, including her feature in Latinidad: La Gente y La Música with Hearing in Color—a multimedia project that delved into her identity as a Mexican-American artist through cultural storytelling and song.
Upon graduating from Texas State University, Celeste was awarded the Teresa Gordon Opera Excellence Award and recorded Lift Every Voice—a genre-fusing album of contemporary, choral, and South African freedom songs—with VocaLibre, now available on Spotify and iTunes. That same year, she won First Place in both the Texas State Concerto Aria Competition and her university’s Homecoming Talent Show for her pop solo performance, showcasing her versatility across musical styles. Following a tour in Beijing, China—performing Mozart’s Requiem with the Texas State Chorale and Shanghai Conservatory—she was selected as a Resident Artist with OPERA San Antonio for their upcoming season.
A multifaceted performer, she has appeared in Off-Broadway showcases like SIX by Chad Harden, made her South African debut as Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème at the Innibos Festival under the direction of Magdalene Minnaar, and performed with the Musiktheater Bavaria program in Germany. Ms. Morales has been featured in Warren Jones’ Singers and Pianists recitals and appeared in various masterclasses with Margo Garrett, Jane Glover, Thomas Hampson, and Howard Watkins. Celeste’s artistic commitments extend beyond performance. Her humanitarian efforts include fundraising concerts for Be An Arts Hero, Feeding America, City Lyric Opera, the San Antonio Food Bank, The Omni Arts Foundation, Coalition for the Homeless, Crime Victim’s Candlelight Vigil, and Opera in Reach’s Art for Peace benefit for Ukraine.
Previous performances include Dialogues of the Carmelites (Madame Lidoine), Don Giovanni (Donna Anna), Hansel and Gretel (Mother), and L’amico Fritz (Suzel) with Texas State University; scenes/roles with the Manhattan School of Music include Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira), and Le Nozze di Figaro (Countess), Britten’s Turn of the Screw (Mrs. Grose), Wagner’s Die Walküre (Sieglinde), and Verdi’s Falstaff (Alice Ford). Scholarships and awards include the Las Casas Foundation Competition; Margaret Hoswell van Der Marck Scholarship and Alexandra Hunt Endowed Vocal Scholarship in Opera Studies (MSM).
She holds a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance from the Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education with a minor in Business Administration from Texas State University. A natural leader and educator, she has served as a guest clinician, ACDA presenter, voice teacher, and Assistant Entertainment Director for Texas State’s Choir Camp. She currently maintains her own private voice studio and is also the Co-Founder of The Artists Table, a platform dedicated to artistic collaboration, resources, and community for BIPOC artists. As an artist, educator, songwriter, and creative entrepreneur, she is passionately building bold new collaborations that blur the lines between contemporary music, musical theatre, and opera—reimagining tradition through a vibrant, colorful lens.
P R E S S K I T.
Soprano, Celeste Morales identifies herself first and foremost as a universal artist who communicates to a community through immense energy, color, and depth. Through the multi-dimensions of various styles and genres, she views the sounds of music as no one singular shade, but rather an ocean full of endless emotions and colors.