In the 2026-2027 season,  Bethany Jelinek eagerly returns to Kansas City as the Soprano Resident Artist. Role debuts will include High Priestess in Aida, Edith in The Pirates of Penzance, and Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro. During her residency in the 2024–2025 season, she made her mainstage debut as Diana in Cruzar la Cara de la Luna and performed in the chorus of Turandot. Jelinek performed with the Lyric Opera Learning Department across the Kansas City area as Querulous String in

The Haberdasher Prince, and sang the role of Maya in the world premiere of Lori Laitman's Maya and the Magic Ring. She will reprise the role of Maya this season.

 

Most recently, she served as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Minot Symphony Orchestra. In competition, Jelinek was a national semifinalist in the 2024 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the third-place winner of the inaugural Heartland Sings Vocal Competition, and the Jonathan Pell People’s Choice Award Winner in the 2023 Dallas Opera Guild Biennial Lone Star Vocal Competition. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in vocal performance from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.