Biography

Northern Irish soprano Hannah McKay is establishing herself as an artist on the international stage. Her 2026/27 season is marked by joining the Zürich International Opera Studio, where she will perform a range of roles including Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte, Die Schleppträgerin in Elektra, Olga in Die lustige Witwe, and Harper in Eötvös’s Angels in America. In the summer of 2026, she also made a significant role debut at the Grange Festival, covering the role of Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, singing the entire role with orchestra in stage rehearsals.

Whilst studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, under the tutelage of Yvonne Kenny, Hannah’s performance highlights included performing Mrs Coyle in Britten’s Owen Wingrave and the title role in Respighi’s Lucrezia, as part of the opera course at Guildhall.

Her professional experience extends to the Barbican Hall, where she performed as Ein Sklave in Strauss’s Salome under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano, as well as the role of the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors with Heritage Opera. She has previously performed as a Young Artist at West Green House Opera, where she covered the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. Her extensive repertoire of scenes, encompasses roles from Donna Elvira and Fiordiligi, to the Blue Fairy in The Adventures of Pinocchio, Natasha in War & Peace and Maria Stuarda.

Hannah has also been engaged numerous times on the concert stage, having performed many of the great orchestral vocal works of the symphonic and oratorio repertoire. She has been heard in Strauss’s Four Last Songs, the Requiems of both Verdi and Mozart, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony. Many of Hannah’s concert debuts have taken place at Durham Cathedral. McKay’s artistic development is rooted in elite training, having completed the Opera Course and a Vocal Masters at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She holds a First Class Bachelor of Arts in Music from Durham University and is an alumna of the Samling Academy. Her artistry has been further refined through masterclasses and coachings with world-renowned figures such as Sir Thomas Allen, Miah Persson, Lawrence Brownlee, and Sir Antonio Pappano.

She won the Clonter Opera Prize in February 2026, representing the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. At the Glenarm Festival of Voice, Hannah was awarded the audience prize in 2024. She was also a finalist in the Irish Heritage Bursary Competition in 2024.