Soprano, researcher, and teacher Dr. Michaela Kelly is Assistant Professor of Voice at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Previously, she taught as lecturer at Scripps College and Chapman University. Michaela was recently awarded a 2026 Faculty Research Grant from UNCG to support her upcoming album release of Windows: Five Songs of Love by Alan Louis Smith with the Navona Record Label. Upcoming engagements include a mini-recital at the NATS National Conference in July of 2026, soloist for Vier Letzte Lieder by Strauss with the UNCG Symphony Orchestra, guest soloist with the Piedmont Wind Symphony saxophone ensemble, and recitals in California and Michigan.
A flexible and dynamic performer, Michaela has sung with the Los Angeles Opera Chorus and Los Angeles Master Chorale on their GRAMMY award winning album “Ortiz:Yanga.” She is an avid recitalist and passionate about art songs. Recently, Michaela performed as a fellow at the Cincinnati Fellowship of the Song and will perform a mini-recital at the NATS National Conference. During her first year on faculty at UNCG, she sang as the soprano soloist with UNCG Chamber Singers in Schubert’s Mirjam’s Siegesgesang, as part of a vocal trio for UNCG’s annual Collage, as well as with the UNCG new music ensemble, Present, Continuous. Michaela was a recipient of the inaugural American Art Song Prize at SongFest where she performed a recital curated and coached by Libby Larsen, John Musto and Martha Guth. She has performed as a recitalist at Toronto Summer Music Festival, the Classical Music Institute, Source Song Festival and has appeared as a soloist with the UNCG Chamber Singers, Claremont Concert Orchestra, Thornton Wind Ensemble, I Cantori di Carmel, New England Conservatory Opera, and NEC Choirs and Orchestra.
Michaela was a recipient of the 2024 Emerging Leader Award from the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). Michaela currently serves as Co-Vice President of North Carolina NATS and previously served as Vice President of Programs for NATS - Los Angeles. Her article “The Composition of a Voice Lesson: How a Motor Learning Classification Framework Affects Teacher Effectiveness” was published in the May/June 2025 edition of the Journal of Singing. She has presented her research at the Pan-American Vocology Association Symposium, Mid-Atlantic Regional NATS Conference, North Carolina Music Educators Association Conference, Cal-Western NATS Conference, and NATS National Conference.
Dr. Kelly holds a Bachelor’s of Music Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a Master’s of Music in Vocal Pedagogy from the New England Conservatory, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance from the University of Southern California.