BIOGRAPHY
Originally from Minneapolis, lyric coloratura soprano Tina O’Malley has been regarded as “a force of nature with a stage-stealing gravity others had to orbit” (Classical Voice North America). Known for her “ravishing coloratura” and “sultry allure” (San Diego Story), she has been recognized in numerous vocal competitions, including Pittsburgh Festival Opera’s Mildred Miller International Voice Competition (1st Place), the Camille Coloratura Awards (First Place), Schubert Club’s Bruce P. Carlson Competition (1st Place), Minnesota Public Radio YourClassical Karin Larson Prize (Winner), and Musicians Club for Women Awards (Honorable Mention).
In the 2025/2026 season, Tina was a Handorf Company Artist with Opera Memphis, performing Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Young Woman in A.E. Reverie (Sankaram), Freda Ward in the world premiere of Patterson and Dye’s Pretty Little Room, and was a performer in recital with world renowned mezzo Jamie Barton. In the winter, Tina performed a selection of operetta and Golden Age musical theater classics at Pittsburgh Festival Opera's New Year's Eve Gala. Most recently, Tina spent spring and summer 2026 as an Apprentice Artist with Opera Neo, performing Fiorilla in Rossini's Il turco in Italia, Mirinda in Vivaldi’s Arsilda, and ensemble in the U.S. premiere of Louise Bertin's Fausto.
In the summer of 2025, Tina made her role debut as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos with Dramatic Voices Program Berlin and participated as a Studio Artist with Opera Neo as Armida (Cover) in Haydn's Armida, in partnership with the Hungarian State Opera, and as a member of the chorus in L'elisir d'amore.
Tina has also been seen as Clorinda (La Cenerentola) and Tzeitel (Fiddler on the Roof) with Bay View Music Festival, Adele (Die Fledermaus) and First Sprite (Cendrillon) with Peabody Institute, Armida (Rinaldo) with Chicago Summer Opera, and Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) with FIO Italia. During her time at Peabody Institute, Tina also performed multiple partial roles, including Madame Herz (Der Schauspieldirektor), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Carrie Pipperidge (Carousel), and Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte).
Enjoying the challenge and expressive possibilities of new music, Tina has been a collaborator in multiple new projects. In addition to her work at Opera Memphis, she performed the role of Young Pauline Viardot in Michael Ching's new opera Notes on Viardot with Music on Site, Inc. in Wichita, KS in 2024 and she worked with composer Andrew Faulkenberry in spring 2023 to workshop and premiere the role of Petra in scenes from his new opera, The Chisel. In Spring 2024, Tina was also a featured performer in "The New River," a dedication concert to the 150th birthday of Schoenberg and Ives and their musical legacies, performing pieces by the featured composers, Luigi Nono and Kaija Saariaho at Baltimore's An Die Musik Live.
In concert, Tina performed the soprano solos in Orff's Carmina Burana as a guest soloist with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra and Choirs at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore, MD under the baton of Maestro Andrew Grams in May 2025. She also performed Darius Milhaud’s Quatre Chansons de Ronsard with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Joseph Young in October 2024. In Minnesota, Tina was a three-time winner of the University of St. Thomas’s Festival Orchestra Competition from 2019 to 2021, for which the prize was a performance with a hired professional orchestra. She also performed the soprano solo in J. Aaron McDermid’s Earth from the larger choral work “From Light to Light” at Minneapolis’s Orchestra Hall in December 2019, which was broadcast across the country on PBS.
In addition to Tina's recent competition wins above, she has been named a semifinalist in the Partner for the Arts Annual Vocal Competition in both 2025 and 2026. In Spring 2024, Tina won first place in the Sylvia Green Competition with her performance of Darius Milhaud's Quatre Chansons de Ronsard at Peabody Conservatory. Tina was a finalist in the Schubert Club's 2022 Bruce P. Carlson Competition and was awarded the Thelma Hunter Award and was the winner of the Minnesota College & University Council for Music Award in 2020.
Tina earned her MM in Vocal Performance from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. She also graduated summa cum laude from the University of St. Thomas in May 2021 with a BA in Music and Digital Media Arts. She studies under acclaimed soprano Elizabeth Futral.
