Biography

Samantha McGonigal is a mezzo-soprano based in Chicago, Illinois. She holds a Bachelor of Music from Otterbein University, and will graduate in June 2025 with a Masters of Music from DePaul University, where she is a student of Dr. Viktoria Vizin. Her recent operatic roles include La Zia Principessa (Suor Angelica), Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice), Die Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), and Ruth (Dark Sisters-Nico Muhly). This Spring, she will join Opera Festival Chicago as a Young Artist, where she will perform in the chorus of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci and Montemezzi’s L’amore dei tre rei, and cover the role of La Vecchia (L’amore dei tre rei). In the fall, Samantha will make her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as a member of the Supplemental Chorus. She will perform in the double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci, as well as Carmina Burana.

Samantha has enjoyed several performances in concert and choral works. At DePaul, she has performed solos in Carl Maria Von Weber’s Agnus Dei, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Giovanni Perotti’s Vespero, and in Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard. In 2023, she was a soloist with the Westerville Symphony in their performance of Orff’s Carmina Burana, and sang solo excerpts from Messiah on their 2022 holiday concert. Previous chorus work includes Tosca with Opera Columbus, Mozart’s Requiem and Haydn’s Te Deum with the Westerville Symphony.