The San Francisco Chronicle praised Romanian-American soprano Esther Tonea for her “powerful, gleaming tone, effortless precision and expressive immediacy” in her rendition of Imogene’s mad scene from Bellini’s Il pirata, where she displayed the “sublime assurance of an established diva” (Joshua Kosman). Ms. Tonea is a 2022 winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, 2024 Finalist in the Elizabeth Connell Prize at Wigmore Hall, 2024 Giulio Gari Grant Award Winner, a Presser Scholar, and recipient of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant. She is a recent graduate of San Francisco Opera’s Adler Program.

 

In the 2025/26 season, Ms. Tonea makes her role and house debut as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Opéra national de Montpellier, sings Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus with Washington Opera Society, Marie in Varney’s Les mousquetaires au convent L’opéra comique de Washington, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin with the Russian Chamber Arts Society, Lisa in The Queen of Spades with Bel Cantanti Opera, Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder with the Washington Conservatory Orchestra, and performances of Handel’s Messiah in Athens, Georgia.. Last season, she sang her first performances of Iolanta with Russian Chamber Arts Society and Juliette in Roméo et Juliette with Bel Cantanti Opera, both in Washington, D. C. She also joined City Choir Washington for Haydn’s Creation, joined the Santa Rosa Symphony for Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and the world premiere of Warum hast du gelitten? by Jonathan Leshnoff, and returned to Richmond Symphony and Richmond Ballet for performances of Carmina Burana. She recently joined Atlanta Opera for Jake Heggie’s Another Sunrise, and returned to Richmond Symphony and Richmond Ballet for performances of Carmina Burana.

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She also recently joined Wolf Trap Opera as a Filene Artist for the title role of Semele.

While in her Adler tenure at San Francisco Opera, she performed the roles of Sister Antoine in Dialogues des Carmélites and Flower in Dream of the Red Chamber, while also being responsible for leading roles such as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, Blanche de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, and Marzelline in Fidelio. She was also engaged by San Francisco Opera to sing Giovanna in Ernani, cover Chrisann in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, and cover Mimì in La bohème, all of which were canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. She has also performed excerpts from Turandot (Liù), Ariadne auf Naxos (Prima Donna), Idomeneo (Elettra), Don Giovanni (Donna Anna), Roméo et Juliette (Juliette), and Il pirata (Imogene) with the San Francisco Opera and Metropolitan Opera orchestras.

 

A frequent collaborator with composer-librettist duo Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer, Tonea premiered the role of Diana in If I Were You with the Merola Opera Program and workshopped Intelligence as Callie Van Lew with Houston Grand Opera. She has performed Fiordiligi with “gleaming tones and impeccable dynamic control” and continues to sing Mozart heroines such as Donna Anna and Contessa. On the concert stage, Tonea has appeared as soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Symphony No. 4, Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass, Haydn’s The Creation and Missa in Angustiis, Mozart’s Requiem in D minor and Exsultate, jubilate, and Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio.

 

She holds a Master of Music in Voice from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees in Vocal Performance and Cello Performance from the University of Georgia. Esther is represented by Guy Barzilay Artists.