About Gráinne

Praised by the Guardian as being ‘magnificent’, Opera Magazine as singing ‘with magnetic allure’, the Observer as having a voice with 'rich, dramatic potential' and noted for her clarity of diction as well as her ‘vibrant and bright tones’ by Opera Now and noted in the German press in a recent production of Elektra for her clear German diction and ‘organ-like tones’ as Klytämnestra, Gráinne Gillis is an Irish-American contralto who is increasingly being recognised for how she inhabits roles in opera. She read Music at UCC and graduated from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Career highlights have included singing the aforementioned Klytämnestra in Elektra,  Madame Flora in Menotti’s The Medium, the Mother in Hansel and Gretel, and Pierrot Lunaire, all at Grimeborn, working with Sir Peter Hall on a sold-out US tour of As You Like It, and three seasons performing with UK-based Pavilion Opera on Die Zauberflöte, Macbeth and La Traviata respectively. Equally at home in straight theatre and opera, Ms Gillis is that rare artist – a contralto who can act. 

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Performances in the 2025/26 season have included Maman/Bergère/Tasse Chinoise/Chatte/Libellule in L'enfant et les Sortilèges with MusiquEleganz, conducted by Emmanuel Plasson and Schwertleite in Die Walküre for Fortitude Productions (conducted by Matthew Toogood).

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In 2024/25 she devised a show called Wagner/Holmès, about Richard Wagner’s influence on Augusta Holmès, which was part of Zeitgeist Irland 2024, kindly supported by Culture Ireland and the Irish Embassy in Berlin. Work also included Schwertleite in Die Walküre and Mrs Sedley for New Palace Opera and Regent’s Opera in London, and her debut at the If Opera Festival, playing Giovanna in Rigoletto (directed by Nina Brazier (Oper Frankfurt) and Public Opinion/Juno in Orpheus in the Underworld (directed by Simon Butteriss). 

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Work in 2023/24 included Margret in Wozzeck as part of Regent’s Opera’s Orchestral Study weekends.  She was also a mentor on the Engender Mentoring Programme at the Royal Opera House, London. In the 2023/24 season, Gráinne made her German theatre and role debut at the Brandenburger Theater as Klytämnestra in Richard Strauss’ Elektra, and reprised her role as the Vampyrmeister (sung role) to critical acclaim at Grimeborn.

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In the 2022/2023 Gráinne sang the role of Schwertleite for the first time in Regent’s Opera Die Walküre (this continued in 2025 with a full Ring Cycle). She also worked with soprano Laure Meloy and Femme Lunatique on a concert project called Disturbing the Peace and sang Emilia to Nadine Benjamin MBE’s Desdemona in a recital about Shakespeare in music in London. She reprised her role as Baba in The Medium with conductor Matthew Toogood (Komische Oper, Tiroler Landestheater) in Berlin.

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Roles in 2022 included working on a new opera called Morrigan at the Cork Opera House, as well as singing the She-Ancient for Regent’s Opera in Tippett’s The Midsummer Marriage in April 2022. She narrated, co-composed and sang on a soundscape project, Utterances I, commemorating the women who founded the Irish Free State. In 2022, Gráinne also performed at WAF 2022 in London with two shows (Mezzo Sings the Bard and The Contralto Cabaret) under the umbrella term Process: Dress.

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COVID cancellations in 2020 included a national tour of Ireland with Sea Trilogy as well as 1st Magd/cover Klytemnestra in Elektra. During the pandemic, Gráinne has been involved in a number of online projects including No Room No Room No Room for Opera Harmony, aired on Operavision,  Last Party on Earth on film and at Tête-à-Tête 2020, Bread and Circuses (Tête-à-Tête 2020), Random Opera’s Gianni Schicchi (Zita) and La Femme Lunatique’s Elizabeth Bishop project.

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In 2019/20 she made her Irish debut as Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance at Cork Opera House, and sang as Vampyrmeister/Suse in a new version of Der Vampyr for Gothic Opera (Offie-nominated).

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In 2018/19 she sang Flora in the Olivier award-winning King’s Head Theatre’s production of La Traviata and opened the London Song Festival.  This season also included her one-woman show Mezzo Sings The Bard (which she reprised at WAF 2022) Hélène in Faust et Hélène, the Old Woman in Candide and La Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod. That summer she also studied with Dolora Zajick and organised a 100-strong chorus for the Women’s March London as part of their ‘Bring The Noise’ event.

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Future work in 2026/27 includes an R&D for a new Irish opera and Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria Rusticana in 2027.  In addition to her opera work, Gráinne is also a voiceover artist and produces her own shows. She is also the founder of the Berlin G&S Singers.