gabrielle illiam
soprano
Praised for her “beautifully resonant vocal quality” (Texas Classical), Dallas-based soprano, Gabrielle Gilliam returned to The Dallas Opera to cover Sandrine/Mercedes in their highly anticipated production of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. She made her mainstage debut at The Dallas Opera as Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly followed by The Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel in 2022.
2023 found Gabrielle making her role debut as Mimì in La Bohème at Painted Sky Opera, and cast as Violetta in La Traviata at Shreveport Opera.
As a Lesley Resident Artist, she was seen as Luisa in the world premiere production of Hector Armienta’s Zorro, and covered the role of Violetta in La Traviata with Fort Worth Opera. Despite the constraints of the Covid – 19 pandemic, Gabrielle was a district winner for the 2020-2021 Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions, and was engaged in a number of virtual performances, including: a music video debut of Handel’s “Furie terribili” with Lumedia Musicworks, a virtual solo recital with The Dallas Opera’s TDO Network, virtual opera debut with American Baroque Opera Company’s production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, as well as a live solo recital with Fort Worth Opera. She was also featured soloist alongside Sasha Cooke, Deanna Breiwick, and Lucas Meachem in the orchestra workshop of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a new work by composer Joby Talbot and librettist Gene Scheer.
Prior to the U.S. outbreak of Covid – 19, she was engaged to join the inaugural class of Studio Artists at The Dallas Opera. Her debuts included Amore in Orfeo ed Euridice and the Heavenly Voice in Don Carlo for the 2020-21 season. Gabrielle was also scheduled to make her debut with Tulsa Opera as Amore in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. In 2019, Ms. Gilliam covered the roles of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and Musetta in La Bohème for The Dallas Opera’s mainstage productions. She was seen on the Winspear Opera House stage as Dorabella in John Davies’ The Bremen Town Musicians with The Dallas Opera-Outreach and Education. In recent seasons, Gabrielle was lauded by TheaterJones as “gleaming and bright…with lovely lines and a convincing level of drama” for her performance of the Young Woman in The Tide by Boris Blacher with Opera in Concert.
Having performed at The Dallas Opera, Forth Worth Opera, Florentine Opera, Opera North, Opera in Concert, and the Amalfi Coast Festival in Salerno, Italy, Gabrielle’s major role credits include Violetta in La Traviata, Blanche de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow, and Johanna in Sweeney Todd. As an Outreach Artist at The Dallas Opera, she performed the role of Bastienne in the touring production of W. A. Mozart’s Bastien and Bastienne, and Dorabella in The Bremen Town Musicians.