Discover 180 opera singers available for hire, with 415 reviews from real clients and an average rating of 5 out of 5. Most bookings are for a single voice with piano or harp accompaniment, singing a mix of operatic arias and crossover pieces, with rates starting from $110 and typical bookings around $400.
A trained operatic voice carries a room without amplification, which makes these singers a practical choice for ceremonies, drinks receptions and dinners where a PA system would be intrusive or impractical. Sets usually mix familiar arias with crossover material rather than staying strictly operatic, and most performers will learn a specific song if you ask far enough ahead.
Opera singers are classically trained vocalists, and that training is what separates them from other singers: the volume to fill a room without a microphone, a sustained line that holds through a long phrase, and diction an audience can follow in Italian, French or English. Voice type matters when you book. A soprano suits a processional or a high, bright ceremony piece; a tenor carries the big set-closers; a baritone or bass sits better under speeches and dinner. Most perform as soloists and either bring an accompanist, work to a backing track, or sing alongside pianists and harpists already booked for the day.
Very few bookings are pure opera. A standard set blends well-known arias such as Nessun Dorma and O Mio Babbino Caro with crossover material of the kind Andrea Bocelli and Katherine Jenkins made familiar, and sacred pieces including Ave Maria and Panis Angelicus remain the usual choice for ceremonies. Most singers close on something lighter from musical theatre. Ask what a set actually contains when you compare quotes, since some performers arrive with a fixed programme and others build one around the occasion. If you want lighter classical and musical theatre rather than operatic repertoire, classical singers cover that ground.
One voice with piano suits a ceremony, a speech slot or background singing over dinner. Two or three singers together open up duets and the trio numbers that carry a gala evening or an awards presentation. A popular variation is the surprise reveal, where the performers work the room as singing waiters before breaking into song mid-service. For a wedding, an opera singer is often booked alongside the instrumentalists handling the processional and the signing of the register, so it is worth settling the running order with both acts and with any other wedding ceremony musicians before the day.
Fees run from $110 to $1,200+, with most bookings settling around $400. The variables that move the price are whether the singer performs alone to a backing track or brings a live accompanist, how long the set runs, and how far they travel. A ceremony appearance of two or three pieces sits at the lower end, while a full evening across drinks, dinner and a late set costs considerably more. Check whether a quote covers the accompanist separately, since that is the most common reason two prices that look alike are not comparable.