About
Me

Known for her floating high notes and rich middle range, Mexican-American Lyric Soprano Hillary Esqueda is praised for being a powerful and versatile performer. At home in both standard and contemporary repertoire, her career highlights include Tosca, Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Tatyana (Eugene Onegin), Micaëla (Carmen), Laetitia(The Old Maid and the Thief), Foreign Woman (The Consul), Dying Juana (With Blood, With Ink), Anna (Darkling), and Agnes (Redencíon), as well as creating three roles for composer Francis Lynch. Aaron Hunt of Chicago Theatre Review described her performance of Mary (Joseph’s Gift) 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 began 2026 learning one of her dream roles of Tosca with Chicago Nova Opera (formerly Chicago Opera Productions) in a dramatic new staging set in pre-war Italy. She picked up a bow and arrow and dusted off her comedic skills to make her company debut with Great Lakes Operetta for a sold out run of Orpheus in the Underworld at Bramble Art Loft in the summer. To close out the 25/26 season, she was honored to win The American Prize in Vocal Performance in the professional opera division (The Friedrich & Virginia Schorr Memorial Award).

The previous year saw Ms. Esqueda as a Semi-finalist in both the SAS Vocal Performance Competition and the Classical Singer Competition. She also made her company debut with Chicago Opera Productions (Micaëla U/S) and Opera Nova in their inaugural concert, and was happy to join Evanston Chamber Opera in a benefit concert singing a new English translation and orchestral reduction of D’albert’s concert scene “Seejungfräulein” (The Little Mermaid).

Esqueda was a Young Artist and Apprentice with Hubbard Hall Opera Theater, Pacific Encore Performances, and Underworld Productions. In summer 2016, she attended the renowned OperaWorks Artist Program, where she explored her artistry in four weeks of intensive training, culminating in an improvised opera performance. In summer 2022 she traveled to Cancun, Mexico to perform around the Yucatan Peninsula with OperaMaya as a Young Artist during their annual summer festival.

Hillary earned 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. Outside of music, she has a mission to road trip to all fifty-states and is a proud dog mom to her rescue pup, Buddy.