Upcoming Performances →

Bio

HEY THERE, I’M CREE CARRICO. I’M A SINGING ACTOR WITH SOPRANO PIPES AND A SPUNKY DISPOSITION.

Soprano Cree Carrico is “a notably versatile performer” and “sensational actress” who is continuously praised by critics for her “crystal clarity at the center of every note” making it “hard to watch anyone else when she’s on stage.” As a lead interpreter of 20th and 21st century works, Carrico collaborates closely with a number of composers and librettists and performs in many premières of contemporary pieces, including but not limited to the world premieres of Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s Proving Up with Opera Omaha and The Miller Theater in New York, as Rosemary Kennedy in David T. Little and Royce Vavrek’s JFK at Fort Worth Opera, with subsequent performances with Montreal Opera, as Solana in the US Premiere of When the Sun Comes Out at Portland Opera, as Amara Bliss in Robert Paterson and David Cote’s Cocoa Cantata, and as a soloist in Blake Allen’s Insomnia at Carnegie Hall.  

In the 2024/2025 season, Carrico returned to Piedmont Opera as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, sang Musetta in La Boheme and La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi, starred in the world premiere of Welcome to the Madness at Opera Steamboat, and returned to one of her favorite roles as Cunegonde in Opera Tampa’s Candide.   In her musical theater work, she performed as the Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd alongside Rod Gilfry and Rob Fisher at the Virginia Arts Festival, opposite Keith Phares as Miss Sarah in Guys and Dolls at Utah Festival Opera, and broke hearts as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors at Virginia Stage Company. 

No stranger to the recording studio, Cree can be heard on the studio recordings of David Lang’s  Difficulty Crossing a Field, Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up, and both Insomnia and Shards of an Honor Code Junkie by Blake Allen.  In 2026, Cree records her debut solo album and a subsequent tour nationwide.  

Since 2020, Cree has become increasingly interested in taking on leading ladies of the standard operatic repertoire.  Her Norina in Don Pasquale at Piedmont Opera was described as “Sills at the top of her career”, a “dynamo” with “high notes fired like rockets, never missing their targets”. Ever confident, Cree took on her first Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro with the same company in 2023, where director, Cynthia Stokes, said of her performance “Her performance radiated brilliance, captivating the audience with every move, and her artistry on stage was as delightful as it was unforgettable.”

Notable operatic roles include: Baby Doe in The Ballad of Baby Doe at Chautauqua Opera, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi at Merola Opera, Gilda in Rigoletto at the Verdi Square Fetival and Syracuse Opera, Younger Alyce in Glory Denied with Kentucky Opera, Opera Memphis, and Urban Arias at the Keegan Theater in DC, Adele in Die Fledermaus with Finger Lakes Opera and Opera Tampa, Beatrice in Three Decembers with Nashville Opera and Opera Memphis, Musetta in La Boheme at Union Avenue Opera and Opera Montana, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance at Opera Tampa, The Williamson Girl in David Lang’s Difficulty of Crossing a Field at Beth Morrison Projects, Esther in Morning Star with OnSiteOpera, and Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire at Opera Company of Middlebury.

A member of Actor’s Equity, Cree earned her union card as an ensemble member in the New York Philharmonic’s performance of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, sharing the stage with Nathan Gunn, Kelli O’Hara, and Stephanie Blythe. She was also seen in Carnegie Hall’s one-night-only performance of Guys & Dolls, starring Nathan Lane and Megan Mullally.

Since then, Carrico has taken the stage as both Miss Adelaide and Miss Sarah in the iconic musical.  Carrico “stole the show as Adelaide” and audiences found it nearly impossible to “separate actress from character" “laughing from the moment she stepped onstage.” Ever a chameleon, Carrico, “convincingly fills the role of sheltered missionary, Sarah, with a lovely, crystal clear soprano.” 

Other theatrical roles include Eliza Doolittle (cover) in My Fair Lady: in Concert with the Utah Symphony, Anna Held in Tintypes at Artistree Musical Theatre Festival, traveling the world in concert with Broadway legend, Rob Fisher, and performing as a soloist in a concert celebrating The Muny’s 100th season with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

In her concert work, Carrico performed as a soloist in Carmina Burana with Trinity Wall Street and Great Lakes Symphony Orchestra, the Messiah with the New Mexico Philharmonic, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with The Brearley Singers at Alice Tully Hall, Haydn’s Mariazeller Messe at Carnegie Hall, Stray Bird with New Chamber Ballet,  Manhattan School of Music’s Centennial Celebrations Recital Series, and is a regular soloist for the Holiday Pops Concerts with The St Louis Philharmonic.

Unphased by the intimacy of solo performance, Cree created The Ophelia Project, a daring and ever-evolving program of songs, arias and monologues that bends the boundaries of a traditional recital to explore the psychology of Shakespeare’s tragic heroine. The Ophelia Project was chosen to inaugurate Opera America’s Emerging Artist Recital Series at the National Opera Center in October 2013. 

She recitals regularly with collaborators such as Rob Fisher, Todd Ellison, Andrew Gerle, and Aaron McAllister. In her latest venture, a solo cabaret show, she performs an unforgettable evening of song and story celebrating love, lust, loss, and everything in between, featuring hits from classic musical theater composers (Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, Bock & Harnick), contemporary composers (Jason Robert Brown, Jeff Blumenkrantz, Goldrich & Heisler) and some world premiers never to have been heard before.

Cree received a Bachelor’s of Music from the Oberlin Conservatory and a Master’s of Music from Manhattan School of Music. She made her New York début as Marie Antoinette in Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles while earning her Master’s degree at Manhattan School of Music. During her final semester at Oberlin, Cree played Comrade Charlotte in Flora, the Red Menace, working closely with the legendary John Kander on a new version of the musical.  She was a finalist in the Ades Competition, the Lotte Lenya Competition and the Houston Grand Opera Studio.