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ABOUT LUISANA

Acclaimed for her "heart-rending expression" (Music City Review), mezzo-soprano Luisana Rivas is committed to promoting the music of underrepresented composers across various genres, with particular focus on Latin American repertoire.

 

An avid recitalist, during the 2024-2025 season, Luisana was a guest at HOPera HTX, presenting a reprisal of her acclaimed "Boleros and Arias" recital. This December, she will collaborate with jazz guitarist Juan Perez for a showcase of Latin American Christmas songs in “Navidades Latinas.” She also looks forward to being featured in the recital “Songs of the Soul,” showcasing beloved Spanish zarzuela and song favorites hosted by the Westbury Performing Arts Series and La Casa de España Houston. Additionally, she continues to cultivate her passion for community opera through her understudy work with Houston Grand Opera’s Opera to Go!, portraying The Pigeon in Don't Let the Pigeon Sing Up Late by Mo Willems and Carlos Simon.

 

In her 2023–2024 season, Luisana performed the role of La Zelatrice in Suor Angelica and Mazeppa in Gypsy with Operativo Houston. She premiered her recital "Boleros and Arias" highlighting beloved Latin American songs and zarzuela arias. Her season also included performances as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly and La Zelatrice with Spotlight on Opera; she covered La Ciesca and took on gender-bending roles as Maestro Spinelloccio and Ser Amantino di Nicolao in Gianni Schicchi with Opera Steamboat. Notably, she premiered J. E. Hernandez’s Soul Echoes, an immersive vocal drama produced by Concertia HTX and Project Amplify that elevates the narratives of children detained at the US-Mexico border. Additionally, she covered the roles of Katie and Bernice Barbelle in Faye Chiao’s Katie: The Strongest of the Strong with the Houston Grand Opera.

 

During the 2022-2023 season, Luisana participated in Austin Opera’s Concerts at the Consulate recital series and performed with Houston Grand Opera’s Opera to Go!, singing the role of Monkey Queen/Lord Tiger in Monkey and Francine in the City of Tigers by Kamala Sankaram. She had previously portrayed Rosina in The Barber of Seville in Texas with Opera to Go!, touring extensively throughout the Houston area.

 

In alignment with her mission to showcase Latin American classical music, Luisana's recent collaborations include singing the role of Latin Alto Vocalist in the Tennessee premiere of Osvaldo Golijov’s La Pasión según San Marcos with the Gateway Chamber Orchestra for two consecutive seasons. For Latinx History Month, she toured as a guest artist with Apollo Chamber Players’ Library Voyage. Through her extensive work with the Ponce Project Foundation, Luisana was featured as a soloist in “Women Composers of Latin America” and debuted the solo recital “Canciones de amor.”

 

A frequent interpreter of trouser roles, Luisana recently debuted as Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro with Luke Housner’s Opera Workshop, and has performed the roles of L’enfant in L’enfant et les sortilèges, Turnspit in Rusalka, and Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel. Other notable roles in her repertoire include Dryade in Ariadne auf Naxos, Dido in Dido and Aeneas, and Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance. On the concert stage, she performed “Uns ist ein Kind geboren” (BWV 142) with the Gateway Chamber Orchestra in Clarksville, Tennessee. In the 2013-2014 season, she appeared with Opera Panama and Asociación Grupo Lírico de Panamá. Her honors and awards include recognition from NATS, Austin Peay State University, and the University of Kentucky.

 

Luisana holds dual citizenship in Venezuela and France, and she has pursued her studies in Panama and the United States. In addition to her work as a singer, she is dedicated to uplifting communities through the arts and proudly serves as a Teaching Artist for Houston Grand Opera and Alley Theatre.

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© 2023 Luisana Rivas. All Rights Reserved.

Website design by Catherine Goode. Updated February 2024.

Photographs by Jordan Licon Photography.

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