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
Following solo debuts last season with Canton Symphony Orchestra, Lima Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Repertory Orchestra, and Perrysburg Symphony Orchestra, highlights for the 2024/25 season include reengagements with Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra, and return solo engagements with Lima Symphony Orchestra and Perrysburg Symphony Orchestra. She will premiere Mickey McGroarty’s composition Stray Birds with Choral Arts Cleveland in March 2025, and also perform Elgar’s Sea Pictures as part of the 2024/25 Music & Arts Series at Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland.
She joined Apollo’s Singers with Apollo’s Fire Baroque Orchestra in their 2023/24 season, and returns for the 2024/25 season. She appeared with Les Délices and Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble for their September 2023 collaboration. 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.
Ms. McGirr has been featured as alto soloist in Elgar’s Seas Pictures; Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass; Handel’s Messiah; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Mass in C Major, Op. 86; 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; and Corigliano’s Fern Hill, among many other works. She is routinely requested to join regional orchestras and choirs for special choral performances.
She is a frequent soloist and member of Cleveland Chamber Choir. She is a soloist and section leader with Trinity 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. 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.