About
Acclaimed for her velvet dark voice and a formidable stage presence, American contralto Ariana Lucas is establishing herself as a premiere talent in the dramatic repertoire across Europe and the United States.
Ms. Lucas opened her 2025/26 season with a return to one of her signature roles, Klytaemnestra, in a revival of Elektra at Theater St. Gallen. This season also marks a significant milestone in her career, specifically her energy packed debut at the Komische Oper Berlin, performing the role of Leokadja Begbick in Barrie Kosky’s celebrated production of Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny. This season, she will also make her house debut at Detroit Opera as Offred’s Mother in The Handmaid’s Tale.
In the 2024/25 season, Ms. Lucas joined the ensemble of the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden. She opened that season with a striking debut as Mescalina in a new production of Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre. Her season in Wiesbaden also featured performances as Mary in Martin Berger’s production of Der fliegende Holländer, the world premiere of Die Erde still geküsst, and an audience favorite of hers: 3. Dame in Die Zauberflöte.
Her versatility was further showcased in the 2023/24 season with a house debut at Theater Heidelberg as Filipewna in Eugene Onegin and the premiere of the cabaret evening “but I like to Sing” under Intendant Holger Schultze. She also returned to the Händel Festival in Karlsruhe as Pleasure in The Foundlinghouse and debuted in Halle as Mrs. Herring in Albert Herring.
Earlier highlights include her Italian debut and Italian broadcast debut as 1. Magd with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano, and her American debut as the Haushälterin in Die schweigsame Frau at the Bard SummerScape Festival. She also appeared at the Staatsoper Berlin (1. Magd) under Thomas Guggeis, the Salzburger Landestheater as the Gute Fee in Alma Deutscher’s Cinderella, and her Chinese debut as Fricka in Die Walküre with the Tianjin Symphony Orchestra.
From 2017 to 2022, Ms. Lucas was a staple of the ensemble at Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe. She first garnered attention there during the 2015/16 season as Erda in David Hermann’s Das Rheingold. Her extensive list of roles in Karlsruhe includes Schwertleite (Die Walküre), Geneviève (Pelléas et Mélisande), Gertrude (Roméo et Juliette), Zita (Gianni Schicchi), Marthe (Faust), Ute (die lustigen Nibelungen) and Amastre in the Händel Festival’s production of Serse. She has appeared in concert with the Heidelberger Philharmonisches Orchester (Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater).
Ms. Lucas is a recipient of the Ebe Stignani Prize for best dramatic voice. Her honors also include the Peter-Selbach-Förderpreis at the Internationaler Gesangswettbewerb für Wagner Stimmen and a scholarship from the Richard-Wagner-Verband Ammersee. She holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.