About
Gwyneth Rix is a Canadian-American mezzo-soprano born and raised in the Greater Philadelphia area. Currently based in Montréal, Gwyneth studies at McGill University's Schulich School of Music in the studio of Dr. Tracy Smith Bessette, supported by the Phyllis and Bernard Shapiro Scholarship in Opera and Della Pergola Award. Her recent concert credits include the mezzo-soprano/alto solos in Bernstein's Chichester Psalms (quartet), Corigliano's Fern Hill (cover), Bach’s Matthäuspassion, Duruflé's Requiem, and Liszt's transcription of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. Recent roles include Arcane (Handel's Teseo), La Badessa (Suor Angelica), Cherubino (Cover, Le nozze di Figaro), Dinah (Cover, Trouble in Tahiti), and Dritte Dame (Die Zauberflöte). Notable venues include the Cockpit Theater in London, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, the Maison Symphonique in Montréal, Québec City’s Palais Montcalm, the Royal College of Music Concert Hall, St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Symphony Hall in Boston, and Theater im Delphi in Berlin. In the 2025-26 season, Gwyneth debuts the role of Ruggiero in Opera McGill's production of Handel's Alcina at the Théâtre Paradoxe in Montréal.
Gwyneth is an avid competitor. She was a winner of the 2022 Calliope's Call young singer competition, a first-place winner of the Boston NATS Student Auditions, and a first and second-place winner of the New England NATS National Student Auditions. Additionally, Gwyneth attended Songfest (under the support of the Art Song Foundation of Canada), the Berlin Opera Academy, Opera Caledonia’s summer program, and the Royal College of Music's study abroad program, where she sang with the Symphony Chorus under the late Sir Andrew Davis.
In addition to solo oratorio and operatic work, Gwyneth is an active choral singer with a particular interest in early and 20th-century works. She has sung with ArtChoral, La Chappelle de Québec, Le Chœur Polyphonique de Montréal, and Vox Ama Deus. She also enjoys new music and has worked directly with both student and professional composers on their pieces as both a chorister and soloist.
While she began her formal musical studies at the age of six as a pianist, Gwyneth has been singing her whole life. She quickly switched her concentration to singing after beginning voice lessons at 13. In 2017, Gwyneth was the youngest-ever singer to join Philadelphia’s Vox Ama Deus ensemble. She later went on to attend the Philadelphia International Music Festival in 2018, the Bel Canto Institute in Florence in 2019, and the Washington National Opera Institute in 2021. She made her operatic debut in January of 2020 as the titular character in Amahl and the Night Visitors. That same year, she won an encouragement award in her region of the Schmidt Vocal Competition, of which she would be a finalist in 2021. Throughout high school, Gwyneth was consistently involved with both the Delaware Valley Opera Company and the Harriton Theater Company.
Gwyneth studied at Boston University from 2021-2025 with a full scholarship in the studio of Dr. Lynn Eustis, from which she graduated Summa Cum Laude and Pi Kappa Lambda with a minor in Philosophy. Go Terriers!
In her free time, Gwyneth enjoys knitting, cooking, thrifting, jazz, and having as many of her friends in her tiny apartment as she can fit.
