Noted for the richness of her voice and “clear, focused sound,” mezzo-soprano Kira McGirr is a dynamic and versatile vocalist, equally at home as a soloist and collaborator. Her repertoire spans from the Baroque to contemporary cutting-edge compositions, from oratorio to art song and chamber works.
photo credit: Jennifer Manna
She will make her solo debut with Canton Symphony Orchestra (Mozart’s Requiem), Lima Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven’s 9th Symphony), and Cleveland Repertory Orchestra (Elgar’s Seas Pictures) during their 2023/24 seasons, and joined Perrysburg Symphony Orchestra as featured soloist for their summer concert series. Ms. McGirr is a frequent collaborator with Local4Music and regularly appears on their SheScores concert series, which features the works of living female and female-identifying composers. She returns for the 2024 Series. She joins Apollo’s Singers with Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra for their 2023/24 season, and appeared with Les Délices and Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble for their September 2023 collaboration.
Ms. McGirr has been featured as alto soloist in Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass; Handel’s Messiah; Britten’s Ceremony of Carols, Hymn to St. Cecilia and Rejoice in the Lamb; Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes; and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms; JS Bach’s BWV 166, among many other works. She made her 2018 debut with BlueWater Chamber Orchestra as soloist in their performance of John Corigliano’s Fern Hill and returned in 2022 as soloist in Beethoven’s Mass in C Major, Op. 86. She is routinely requested to join regional orchestras and choirs for special choral performances.
Ms. McGirr is a frequent soloist and member of both Cleveland Chamber Choir and Cleveland Consort of Voices. As a recording artist, she is featured on Cleveland Chamber Choir’s album, I Sing to Use the Waiting. She is a soloist and section leader with Trinity Chamber Singers and Cathedral Choir at Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland; and Schola Cantorum Lorain, and substitute section leader and cantor for numerous other Cleveland-area churches and synagogues. She regularly appears as part of Trinity Cathedral’s BrownBag Concert Series. Additional operatic experience includes Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Dorabella (Cosi fan tutte), and Giannetta (L’elisir d’amore), as well as a variety of opera choruses.
Ms. McGirr is the Executive Director of the Cleveland Chamber Choir and The Singers’ Club of Cleveland. She holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Oberlin College & Conservatory of Music.