A native of Tijeras, New Mexico, soprano Lydia Grindatto is a fourth-year Resident Artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) and is a 2024 Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.
Lydia begins the 2024-2025 season as a soloist with the Sag Harbor Song Festival, followed by her role debut as Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust at AVA. The spring and summer bring her company and role debuts with Palm Beach Opera (Juliette in Roméo et Juliette), Utah Opera (Nedda in Pagliacci), and The Glimmerglass Festival (Anne Trulove in The Rake's Progress). In autumn 2025, she will make her European debut at the Wexford Festival as Leonore in Le trouvère.
During the 2023-24 season, Ms. Grindatto made house debuts with Arizona Opera as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and Opera Columbus as Tatiana in Eugene Onegin. During the summer, she joined the prestigious Merola Opera Program, returning to the role of Donna Anna. Earlier this season, Lydia sang the title role in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena at AVA, and was invited to perform popular opera selections alongside featured guest star Michael Fabiano in a concert with Opera Italiana is in the Air at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. She was a 2023 Apprentice Artist at the Santa Fe Opera, where she made her company debut as the Second Wood Sprite, in addition to covering the title role, in Dvořák’s Rusalka.
Her opera roles at the Academy of Vocal Arts have included Donna Anna, Violetta in La traviata, and Tatiana. Lydia has been recently recognized as a winner in several prestigious competitions, including the Opera Index Awards, The Loren L. Zachary Society Competition, the Gerda Lissner Foundation Competition, as well as winning the top prize in AVA’s Giargiari Bel Canto Competition.
The soprano has also appeared as a featured soloist in various concert settings, including the chamber ensemble Antigua y Moderna, the University of New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, and the AVA Orchestra. Lydia holds a B.M. in Vocal Performance from the University of New Mexico.
