Praised for her “infectious enthusiasm” and “charm” on the stage (BoorAboutTown Toronto), Brenna McFarland is a light lyric soprano located in Boston, MA and proudly hailing from the Washington D.C. metro area. 

 

In the 2025-26 season, she makes her debut as a Studio Artist with Opera Neo, covering the audacious lead, Fiorilla, in Rossini's Il turco in Italia, as well as the naive Mirinda in the American premiere of Vivaldi's long-lost opera Arsilda. ​​She will be a soloist in the 'Night at the Museum' art song recital at the San Diego Museum of Art, in partnership with Opera Neo. 

 

Brenna also became Artist-in-Residence with the New Opera Company of Boston this season, with whom she named a winner of their Dante Alighieri Aria Gala Competition. Along with various galas, she is a featured artist in their Nantucket Opera Festival Concert Series this summer throughout the fall 2026. Additional roles this season include the mysterious Mélisande in Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande (abridged version) at Boston Conservatory at Berklee and the charming Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus with Winter Harbor Music Festival. 

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The 2024-2025 season saw her contract as a Portfolio Artist Intern with Opera 5. In the new two-woman opera Come Closer by Ryan Trew and Rachel Krehm, she worked alongside the composer and librettist as the Big Sister cover, as well as dipped her toes into the musical theater world of William Finn's Elegies. ​Additional roles that season included Zerlina in Don Giovanni (International Summer Opera Festival of Morelia) and Margaret Johnson in The Light in the Piazza (Opera McGill). 

 

Other recent roles in Brenna's repertoire include Clorinda in La Cenerentola (Opera McGill), Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro (Winter Harbor Music Festival), and Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte (Bethesda Summer Music Festival).​ ​

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Brenna studies under the tutelage of Dr. Rebecca Folsom and coaches with Laurann Gilley. In May 2026, she received her Professional Studies Certificate from Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where she was a Finalist in the Hans Lewitus Vocal Competition and sang in masterclasses with Metropolitan Opera conductor Riccardo Frizza and soprano Brenda Rae.

 

In 2025, she received a Master of Music from McGill University, from which she was a recipient of the Graduate Mobility Award and the 2024 Austrian Society Scholarship, as well as a soloist in masterclasses with Opéra National de Paris musical director Pierre Vallet, pianist Helmut Deutsch, and tenor Ian Bostridge. She also holds bachelors dual degrees in Communications Studies and Vocal Performance from James Madison University.

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Demonstrating her versatility across genres, Brenna is often seen gigging anywhere from her church job, where she is a member of the Schola at St. Paul's Parish of Harvard Square, to jazz lounges, to Disney princess parties.