Bio

Colorado-born Mezzo-Soprano Christina Hazen is quickly making her mark in the opera and concert world. Christina recently completed her tenure as a Resident Artist at Minnesota Opera, where she made her house debut singing Goffredo in Rinaldo. She returns to Minneapolis in the spring of 2024 to cover Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti and Autumn in Service Provider. This summer, Christina joins the roster of Des Moines Metro Opera as an Apprentice Artist to cover the role of Rosina in The Barber of Seville.

A passionate advocate of new music, Christina has sung and premiered several new operas and art songs. In collaboration with Cincinnati Opera and Opera Fusion: New Works, Christina workshopped the role of Sally in Kevin Puts’ The Hours for The Metropolitan Opera, and Miss Kohl in Tobias Picker’s Awakenings for Opera Theater of St. Louis. At Minnesota Opera, she covered the roles of both Pellegrina and Nellie for Paola Prestini’s world premiere of Edward Tulane. At Opera Colorado, Christina performed in the world premieres of Gerald Cohen’s Steal a Pencil for Me. She joined the Lynx Project: Autism Advocacy Series to debut several new songs in 2020 and at Cincinnati Song Initiative, she premiered two songs by women composers for their ‘Let It Be New’ concert series.  

A skilled competitor, Christina recently competed in the quarterfinals of the Tenor Viñas Competition in Barcelona and was awarded the Lynne Harvey Foundation Award in honor of her sister Virginia Cooper Maier from the Musicians Club of Women in Chicago. Other awards include the prestigious Norman Treigle Award from the Corbett Opera Competition, the Three Arts Scholarship, the Carole Johnson Award at the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition and the First Place Arden J. Yockey Award at the Tuesday Musical Competition. Christina received her Master of Music and Artist Diploma from the University of Cinncinati- College Conservatory of Music (CCM) and is an aluma of the Houston Grand Opera Young Artist Vocal Academy (YAVA).

Christina made her debut as Isabel in Pirates of Penzance with Cincinnati Opera this past summer. Other notable roles include Zerlina in Don Giovanni and La maquise in La fille du regiment (Minnesota Opera), Flora in La Traviata (Dayton Opera), Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro (CCM Opera), Alto Soloist in Handel’s Messiah (Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra), Rosmira in Partenope (CCM Opera), Hänsel in Hänsel and Gretel and Mrs. Fox in Fantastic Mr. Fox (Opera Steamboat), Mrs. Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor (Loveland Opera Theatre), Meg in Falstaff and the title role in Carmen (UNCO Opera Theater). Christina holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Northern Colorado.

In her spare time, Christina enjoys rock climbing, doing yoga, and taking care of her houseplants.