Hailed as a 'Rising Star' by Opera Now magazine, Glasgow-based American mezzo-soprano Lea Shaw is an Education Artist in Residence at Scottish Opera (previously an Emerging and then Associate Artist) where roles have included Flora La traviata, Zerlina Don Giovanni, Mercédès Carmen, Hänsel Hänsel & Gretel, and Hermia A Midsummer Night's Dream. In the 2024/25 season she performed Kormorna The Makropulos Affair and made her company debut with English National Opera as The Monitoress Suor Angelica.
In the 2025/26 season she makes her role debut as Concepción L'heure espagnole at the Lammermuir Festival with Scottish Opera, performs the role of The Sorceress Dido & Aeneas with Bjarte Eike and the Royal Northern Sinfonia, and makes her company debut with Welsh National Opera in Blaze of Glory! Lea will also give the world premiere of three new works, part of her new commissions series "And When the Light Returned, I, Transfigured, Awoke" at The University of Glasgow.
She has collaborated with artists such as Marin Alsop, Martyn Brabbins, John Butt, Sir Andrew Davies, Sir Thomas Allen, and Dame Janet Baker, and has created works in close collaboration with Stuart Macrae and James Macmillan.
Lea graduated from Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's Alexander Gibson Opera School where she was awarded the silver medal by the Musician's Company. She was the recipient of the First and Audience prizes at the 2023 Northern Aldborough Festival New Voices Competition. Lea is a Samling Artist and is the founder of The Small Magician, a fully accessible, inclusive, trauma-aware vocal education resource.
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The Makropulos Affair (Komorna)
Scottish Opera, February 2025
"Lea Shaw's Chambermaid delivered the perfect cameo – the latest signs of this singer's promise"
Andrew Clark, Opera
Suor Angelica (The Monitoress)
English National Opera, September 2024
"Lea Shaw making her ENO debut as the Monitress will surely be welcomed back with open arms"
Colin Clarke, Seen and Heard International
La traviata (Flora Bervoix)
Scottish Opera, May 2024
"Lea Shaw's sexy Flora nearly stole the show in the party scenes."
Andrew Clark, Opera
"Special mention has to go to the scene-stealing duo of Lea Shaw and Ross Cumming as Flora and the Marchese d’Obigny, both of whom are absolutely hysterical in their slightly sleazy frivolity."
Lorna Murray, West End Best Friend
Hänsel und Gretel (Hänsel)
Scottish Opera, December 2023
"American mezzo-soprano Lea Shaw was a no less mischevious, hard-pressed, ever-hungry Hansel."
Donal Hurley, Edinburgh Music Review
"Lea Shaw and Catriona Hewitson were superbly matched as Hansel & Gretel, not just vocally – although their voices combined beautifully – but also in their acting of the bossy big sister and devoted, if slightly daft, young boy."
Keith Bruce, The Herald
Carmen (Mercédès)
Scottish Opera, June 2023
"Zoe Drummond and Lea Shaw sing Frasquita and Mercédès gloriously"
Lorna Murray, West End Best Friend
Don Giovanni (Zerlina)
Scottish Opera, May 2022
"Scottish Opera emerging artist Lea Shaw is particularly strong as the peasant Zerlina, whose marriage to Emyr Wyn Jones’ borderline sadistic Masetto is interrupted when Giovanni seduces her, bribing Masetto and the wedding guests with a party back at his opulent palace. Shaw brings a powerful and clear voice to her understanding of the role, as a woman who knows how to manipulate her man to get what she wants."
Thom Dibdin, The Stage
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