Cecilia Duarte
A soloist in the Grammy Winner album Duruflé: The Complete Choral Works, Cecilia has been praised by The New York Times as “A creamy voiced mezzo-soprano.”
Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, Cecilia is a versatile singer that has performed around the world singing a variety of music styles, especially early and contemporary music.
Cecilia has been greatly recognized for creating the role of Renata in the first Mariachi Opera Cruzar la Cara de la Luna with the famous Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, commissioned by Houston Grand Opera in 2010. Cecilia has taken this opera to stages such as the Houston Grand Opera (2013, 2018); Châtelet Theatre in Paris, France; Chicago Lyric Opera, San Diego Opera, Arizona Opera, The Fort Worth Opera, Teatro Nacional Sucre, in Quito, Ecuador, New York City Opera, and El Paso Opera. Since then, Cecilia has created other roles for world premieres of chamber operas and new works, such as Jessie Lydell in A Coffin in Egypt, (HGO and the Wallis Annenberg Center in L.A.); Gracie in A Way Home (HGO and Opera Southwest); Harriet/First Responder in After the Storm (HGO); Alicia in Some Light Emerges (HGO); and Alma in “Boundless,” the first episode of Houston Grand Opera’s web opera series Star-cross’d, which received a Telly Award.
Operatic roles include Linda Morales in Laura Kaminsky’s and Kimberly Reed’s Hometown to the World, Melissa in F. Caccini’s Alcina, Sarelda in The Inspector, Maria in Maria de Buenos Aires, Loma Williams in Cold Sassy Tree, Isabella in Rapaccini’s Daughter, and Tituba in The Crucible, among others. Cecilia also premiered the prequel to Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, reprising the role of Renata in the world premiere of El Milagro del Recuerdo, with Houston Grand Opera (2019, 2022) and Arizona Opera (2021).
Her experience in early music include performances with Ars Lyrica Houston, Mercury Houston, and The Bach Society Houston, as well as the Fesitvalensemble in Stuttgart, Germany, the Festival de Música Barroca de San Miguel de Allende, México, and most recently, the Boston Early Music Festival and the Bach Collegium San Diego with whom she debuted singing Handel’s Messiah in a complete adaptation to Spanish. She is a vocalist in the Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble, performing early and contemporary music.
Recordings include Cecilia’s first solo album, Reencuentros, produced by multiple time Grammy winner, Blanton Alspaugh, under Reference Recordings Label; soloist in the Grammy winner album Duruflé: The Complete Choral Works with Signum Records, a special appearance in Encantamiento, an album with music by Daniel Catán, and Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, with Albany Records.
