PC: Matthias Baus
In 2022, Shannon was named the First place winner of The Jensen Foundation's prestigious vocal competition. Previously, she was named First place winner and Lynne Cooper Harvey Foundation Award winner at the Musicians Club of Women in Chicago. She was also named the First place winner of The Rochester Oratorio Society's International Vocal Competition, Third place winner of Opera Ithaca's 2022 Edward M. Murray Vocal Competition and Third place winner of the Gerda Lissner Foundation's General Division of their International Vocal Competition.
In January 2022, she sang as a finalist in Houston Grand Opera's Concert of Arias and won the Tulsa District of the Laffont Competition. She went on to place second in the Midwestern Region. In other seasons of competition, Shannon received accolades from competitions organized by The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Annapolis Opera, Butler Opera International, and The National Opera Association.
Noted for her fearlessness and creativity, MEZZO-SOPRANO SHANNON KEEGAN finds herself at home across genres and in any room she walks into. Shannon combines committed vocal technique, fierce dramatic skill, and what her friends would call "an uncanny ability to take it too far," to deliver compelling and honest performances spanning musical theater, recital, and opera.
For the 2022/2023 season, Shannon joined Staatsoper Stuttgart's Opernstudio. As a first year Studio Artist, Shannon made her debut as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro in October 2022 followed by a turn as Frau Pfeil in Der Schauspieldirektor and Der Sandmännchen in Hänsel und Gretel. For the remainder of the 2023 season, Shannon can be seen as Roßweise in Die Walküre, the Mezzo Soloist in The Sound of the Revelation of the Divine, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni. Shannon was also featured in the lauded New Years Concert alongside the chorus and orchestra of Staatsoper Stuttgart. She will soon appear in a performance art piece led by Felix Rothenhäusler, Ville Haimala, and Franz-Erdmann Meyer-Herder.
Shannon made her concert debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in January of 2023 under the baton of Kirill Petrenko. She sang as the 1st Alto in featured trios, quartets, and octets in Mendelssohn's Elias to a sold out audience. She will later return to the Berlin Philharmonic in April to sing in Strauss' monolithic opera Die Frau ohne Schatten in a new production at the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus.
A lover of song, Shannon returned to Carnegie Hall as a participant in Renee Fleming’s Song Studio. Paired with a collaborative partner, Shannon participated in masterclasses, workshops, and a final recital held in Zankel Hall. Shannon's set for the recital focused on shades of loneliness explored through the music of Barber and Schubert and was met with rave reviews.
In the summer of 2022, Shannon returned to Des Moines Metro Opera as an Apprentice Artist and covered Ginny in the world premiere of A Thousand Acres. Days later, she arrived in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, Germany to sing with the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie for the remainder of the summer. Shannon will return to IMA and Neumarkt in Summer 2023.
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PC: Bree Bragg
PC: Bree Bragg
In March 2022, Shannon sang with Des Moines Metro Opera as a last minute jump in for the role of the Third Spirit in The Magic Flute, a role typically taken by a young boy. Shannon fits neither of these demographics, however, she fits the height requirement for the widely loved Barrie Kosky production. She would like to thank genetics for keeping her at exactly the same height since junior high school. She also jumped in last minute to cover Orfeo in Kentucky Opera's production of Orfeo ed Euridice by Gluck.
In the summer of 2020, Shannon was meant to join The Santa Fe Opera to make her debut as Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte and cover the Third Woodsprite in Rusalka but the season was canceled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. As a Young Artist, she has participated in Kentucky Opera's Sandford Studio Artist Program as a last minute jump in, Houston Grand Opera's Young Artist Vocal Academy and Des Moines Metro Opera's Apprentice Artist Program.
A dedicated recitalist, Shannon has presented three recitals featuring music by Libby Larsen, William Bolcom, Zoltán Kodály, and so many more. An infamous improviser, Shannon pondered the question "can one wear a bathrobe in a recital?" during her final Master's recital in 2020. No one asked her this question, but boy did she answer it. Perhaps a better question would have been "should one wear a bathrobe in a recital?" Luckily, no one asked her this question either.
In her free time, Shannon enjoys haunting bookstores and taking prisoners to add to her ever expanding "To Be Read" shelf. An avid writer, she subsists on a literary diet composed almost entirely of fantasy and science fiction. She is currently based in Stuttgart, Germany with her Siamese cat and a devastating lack of cast-iron pans.
Shannon is an alumna of University of Cincinnati- CCM (BM) and Rice University (MM.)