Puerto Rican soprano, Kresley Figueroa, is in her second year as a Cafritz Young Artist with Washington National Opera. Her roles this season with WNO include Chrisann Brennan in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, Bagheera in Jungle Book, and An Apparition in Macbeth.

Last season with WNO, Kresley performed Partenope in Handel’s Partenope, Berginella in an English adaptation of Offenbach’s La Périchole, and The Unicorn in Tesori’s The Lion, The Unicorn, and Me.

Other recent role highlights include Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff, performing alongside Bryn Terfel in the title role and under the baton of Patrick Summers with The Aspen Music Festival, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni with OPERA San Antonio, conducted by Robert Tweten. Kresley has also recently appeared in concert singing with iconic artists Ana María Martínez (The Aspen Music Festival) with pianist Myra Huang, and Susan Graham (The Library of Congress) in celebration of the new exhibition “Collecting Memories” in the also new David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery.

This season, she makes two exciting debuts with The Greenwich Village Orchestra as the soloist for Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, and with The Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra as the featured soloist in their New Year’s Eve concert.

In 2024, Kresley was awarded First Place and the Audience Favorite prize in The James Toland Vocal Arts Competition as well as Third Prize in Florida Grand Opera’s National Voice Competition. In 2023, she was named a winner of the Duncan Williams Voice Competition for her performance in the Black and Latinx Song Presentation and was an Encouragement Award winner in the Los Angeles District auditions for The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.

Other roles include Adina in L’elisir d’amore, Servilia in La Clemenza di Tito, Bubikopf in Der Kaiser von Atlantis, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Maria in West Side Story, and Fiona in Brigadoon.

Kresley is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Rice University.