Maia Sumanaweera, Opera Singer, Opera, Soprano

Originally from Northern California, Maia earned her B.A. from the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. She completed her M.M. at the Mannes School of Music. Maia is in the vocal studio of Jennifer Zetlan.

Maia performed the roles of Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Poppea in L’incoronazione di Poppea, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, La princesse in L’enfant et les sortilèges, and Linfea in La Calisto with Mannes Opera, as well as the role of Christine in Lost Childhood with Opera UCLA. Her scene work includes Adina in L’elisir d’amore and Suzel in L’amico Fritz with Classic Lyric Arts and soprano soloist in The Fairy Queen with Mannes Opera. She also participated in Santa Fe Opera’s 2022 workshop of The Righteous by Gregory Spears and Tracy K. Smith. Maia is a recipient of the Encouragement Award in the Washington District Round of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.

In addition to her operatic credits, Maia sang with choirs for eleven years, as well as performing with renowned professional choral ensemble Seraphic Fire. In 2019, she performed in the chorus with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra on the GRAMMY® award-winning recording of the oratorio The Passion of Yeshua by Richard Danielpour.

Outside of her performing career, Maia is passionate about working for arts organizations, serving as Assistant Manager of Development for the non-profit Classic Lyric Arts and as Social Media Coordinator for The New School Continuing & Professional Education. In her spare time, Maia maintains a small private voice studio and loves cooking, floral arranging, and photography.


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