Infamous for her fearlessness and creativity, Mezzo-Soprano Shannon Keegan finds herself at home across genres and in any room that 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.
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Beginning her 2023/2024 season with a bang, Shannon was named the First Place and Critics Choice winner of the 21st annual Concorso Lirico Ottavio Ziino in Rome. Shannon sang a program of Strauss, Händel, Bizet, and Mozart, displaying a deep understanding of style and character in each piece.
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For her second season at the Staatsoper Stuttgart as a Studio Artist, Shannon will create the role of the Schwester in the World Premier of Bernhard Lang's opera Dora. Returning to Mozart, Shannon will also be featured in the "on stage premier" of Barrie Kosky's Die Zauberflöte as Zweite Dame. Shannon will also sing as a Dienerin, Kinderstimme, and Stimme des Ungeborenen in the premier production of Die Frau ohne Schatten. She will also be featured in various concerts and recitals, to be announced.
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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 then returned 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.
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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.
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Shannon made her Belgian debut in a series of open air concerts with the Flanders Festival Orchestra conducted by Dirk Brossé. The concerts were held in glorious venues across Belgium and Shannon wowed audiences, not only with her singing, but with her impressive ability to down a stein of Belgian beer in one during the nachspiel of the second act finale of Die Fledermaus. Shannon doesn't really drink, but she made an exception for her public.
For the 2022/2023 season, Shannon joined Staatsoper Stuttgart's Opernstudio. As a first year Studio Artist, Shannon made several role debuts as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Frau Pfeil in Der Schauspieldirektor, Der Sandmännchen in Hänsel und Gretel, Roßweise in Die Walküre, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni. Shannon also made her performance art debut as the Mezzo Soloist in The Sound of the Revelation of the Divine. Returning to performance art, Shannon helped create the sound installation Erda Speaking HELLOHELLO in collaboration with avant-garde musician Ville Haimala, director Felix Rothenhäusler and dramaturg Franz-Erdmann Meyer-Herder.
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Shannon returned to the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, Bavaria over the summer of 2023. While in attendance, Shannon and her colleagues sang in recitals, galas and concerts, including an evening of arias with the Nürnberg Symphony Orchestra. The culmination of the program resulted in two very successful auditions for over 40 casting directors and agents around the world.
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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 Germany to sing with the Internationale Meistersinger Akademie for the remainder of the summer.
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During her first season of competition, 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.
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.
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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. She also jumped in last minute to cover Orfeo in Kentucky Opera's production of Orfeo ed Euridice by Gluck.
Shannon was meant to join The Santa Fe Opera to make her debut as Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte but the season was canceled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. 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 accomplished 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.
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Shannon is an alumna of University of Cincinnati- CCM (BM) and Rice University (MM.)