“Delijani was most compelling…the fiorature intuitively integrated into the line…the sincerity of her acting making the reversal of fortunes that begets the opera’s lieto fine surprisingly believable.”
— Voix Des Artes
Iranian-American mezzo-soprano Shannon Delijani is a dynamic performer and interdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles, known for her bold storytelling, genre-blending productions, and deep emotional resonance on stage and screen.
Most recently, Shannon appeared as a soloist with the Charleston Symphony and Taylor Festival Choir, and premiered UMBRA by Elliot Menard. Last season, she sang Charlotte Perry in the world premiere of Welcome to the Madness by Leanna Kirchhoff with Opera Steamboat; Larina in Eugene Onegin with Heartbeat Opera; Eleni in Richard Danielpour’s The Grand Hotel Tartarus; Dido in Dido and Aeneas with UCLA Opera; and performed Ravel’s Shéhérazade with the UCLA Philharmonia. She also debuted her original solo show Homeland with Prima Voce Emerging Artists at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music.
Shannon’s repertoire spans early music, bel canto, contemporary opera, and vocal chamber works. She has performed internationally at festivals and companies including Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Trentino Music Festival (Italy), and Classic Lyric Arts in France. She created the role of Cantor in Thomas Morse’s Frau Schindler, and appeared alongside John Holliday and Vivian Genaux in Broschi’s Idaspe with Quantum Theater.
In 2020, Shannon founded MAD SCENE, an interdisciplinary production company based in Los Angeles, where she writes, produces, and directs visual works that fuse classical music with cinematic storytelling. Her film La Dame de Monte Carlo was an official selection at the Raleigh Film & Art Festival and the Austin Arthouse Film Festival, where she was nominated for the Rowlands Award for Best Female Performance.
A graduate of the USC Thornton School of Music (BM, Opera Award) and Mannes School of Music at The New School (MM, Marian Marcus Wahl Memorial Award), Shannon is also an alumna of the Beth Morrison Projects: Producer Academy.
Through her work on stage and in film, Shannon Delijani brings archetypal heroines and untold stories into modern focus — giving voice to the emotional truths at the heart of classical music.
“It strikes us as more difficult to perform on French vowels but Ms. Delijani was undaunted. The handling of the lower register had just the right mix of chest and head voice. The cabaletta was powerful.”
— Voce di Meche
forough’s aria
From “Threshold of Brightness” by Niloufar Nourbakhsh
da chas nastal
From “The Maid of Orleans” by Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky
moments in the woods
From “Into the Woods” by Stephen Sondheim
