Known for her floating high notes and rich middle range, Hillary Esqueda is a versatile lyric soprano praised as a “powerful” performer. Hillary’s  passion for modern and 21st-century opera led her to create three roles for composer Francis Lynch in the world premiers of Voices at Domrémy (Yvonne), For Those in Peril (Gwendolyn) and Joseph’s Gift (Mary). Aaron Hunt of Chicago Theatre Review described her performance of Mary as "appropriately serene...with a flowing and pitch-perfect voice that sets the bar high for any soprano undertaking this role in the future." Hillary also appeared in the Midwest premiers of With Blood, With Ink as legendary poet, scholar and nun Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz and Darkling (Soprano Anna) by Stefan Weisman and Anna Rabinowitz. From traditional repertoire she has sung the roles of Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Mimi (La Bohème), Tatyana (Eugene Onegin), Laetitia (The Old Maid and the Thief), Drusilla (L'incoronazione di Poppea),  Marie (La Fille du Régiment), Sophie (Werther), Marzelline (Fidelio), First Lady (Magic Flute), and Frasquita (Carmen).

Esqueda was a Young Artist and Apprentice with Hubbard Hall Opera Theater, Pacific Encore Performances, and Underworld Productions. In summer 2016, she attended OperaWorks’ Advanced Artist Program, where she explored her artistry in four weeks of intensive work culminating in an improvisational opera performance. In summer 2022, she traveled to Cancun, Mexico, to perform around the Yucatan Peninsula with OperaMaya as a Young Artist during their summer festival. In 2023 she joined Mozart in the Knobs in their inaugural festival and made her role debut as Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni). In 2024 Hillary made her company debut in concerts with Opera Nova and Wilmington Concert Opera, and as Tatyana in Opera Aeterna's production of Eugene Onegin. Last year Hillary most notably understudied the role of Micaela (Carmen) with Chicago Nova Productions (formerly Chicago Opera Productions), and she is beginning her 2026 with them again, understudying the title role of Tosca. In July she will be making her company debut with Great Lakes Operetta as Cupid in a new translation of Orpheus in the Underworld. 

Recently Ms. Esqueda was named a finalist for The American Prize, a Semi-finalist in the Classical Singer Competition, finalist at the NH Opera Idol competition and took first place in The Da Capo International Vocal Competition. She received her bachelor’s degree in music from NYU’s Steinhardt School and her master’s from Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Hillary currently lives in Chicago and studies with countertenor Mark Crayton and soprano Christine Goerke.