American Soprano Kelli Estes comes originally from Oklahoma where she began her vocal training. She graduated from The University of Oklahoma in 2009 with a Bachelor’s degree in Music under the teaching of Dr. Dolores Leffingwell. While at the university, Kelli portrayed La Contessa in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, The Kitchen Boy in Dvořák’s Rusalka, and Die Zweiter Knabe in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. She then moved to New York City to attend Mannes College: The New School for Music, where she studied with Ruth Falcon and Beth Roberts and completed her Master’s degree in 2011.
In the summer of 2014, Kelli joined with the Manhattan Opera Studio and performed the roles of Papagena and The Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. The following summer, 2015, she participated in the Lotte Lehmann Akademie in Perleberg, Germany. In 2016 she attended Music Academy International in Mezzano, Italy where she performed the roles of Amor and Damigella in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and Minnie in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus. Most recently, Kelli teamed up with the Berlin Opera Academy to perform Echo in their 2017 production of Ariadne auf Naxos and La Contessa in their 2019 production of Le Nozze di Figaro.
Kelli currently resides in Stuttgart, Germany.