Over the weekend, Kayla Nanto, ’15, won the Dallas Opera’s Lone Star vocal competition. Her win has automatically advanced Nanto to the final round of the 2026 National Vocal Competition. The mezzo-soprano also took home the Jonathan Pell People’s Choice award, meaning she was the audience’s favorite performer of the night.

Nanto was born and raised in northern Colorado and remained there for her undergraduate degree. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Music with a focus in Vocal Performance at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC). As a student, she was very involved in her program, performing in many of the school’s opera productions, including the title role in Carmen and “Angelina” in La Cenerentola.  

Now, Nanto works as a freelance opera singer based in Dallas, Texas. What she loves most about her work is telling stories and getting lost in a character onstage, as well as the people she meets and works with at every job she books. She says the bonds she builds with her colleagues while collaborating on artistic endeavors are invaluable. 

The community that forms among the cast and company gives Nanto a sense of fulfillment that assures her the work she’s doing is impactful. It has proven to her that the people you work with really matter. It’s even more memorable when the performing cast and crew can integrate and connect with local community-members. Since she travels for each role, Nanto gets to experience life and communities across the country. 

During her time at UNC, Nanto feels fortunate to have had a wealth of performing opportunities right on campus. Nanto and other Music students spend much of their time performing on stage, which sets UNC apart from other schools that give fewer opportunities and allows students to directly hone their skills. At other universities with such strong graduate programs, undergraduate students may not receive as much performance exposure. 

“Stage experience is an invaluable tool that not everyone has when they graduate—I’m very glad that my performances at UNC prepared me in that way,” said Nanto. 

The experience Nanto received while at UNC allowed her to explore how she can take risks to develop an authentic character in a safe environment. She knew she was supported by her professors and peers, so what might have felt daunting in a professional setting, felt comfortable and supported instead. Being encouraged to try new things allowed Nanto to grow into her artistic identity while developing her strengths and skills. 

One of the programs offered by UNC’s Opera Theatre department, the Opera Classica Europa, solidified Nanto’s decision to pursue a career in the arts. In the summers of 2014 and 2015, Nanto travelled to Europe for the first time with the program. She performed for audiences in some of the very places where classical music originated, leading her to feel more deeply connected with this art and her career choice. 

As a professional with 10 years of experience working in the field, Nanto has some advice for students pursuing their education and career in Vocal Performance. 

“Record and listen to your lessons ... It makes such a difference to actually hear what you’re working on and be aware of how you sound,” said Nanto. 

While it can be uncomfortable, this technique can be helpful for students who don’t like how they sound because it motivates them to work until they improve. Plus, as Nanto points out, it’s easy to record yourself today. When Nanto was in college, she had to bring a cassette player with her to record her work. Later, that evolved into a Zoom recorder, and now the technology is with her wherever she goes, on her phone. 

Nanto also advocates for mental health for performing arts students. She feels strongly that students should feel comfortable going to therapy if they need help overcoming performance anxiety or any other mental health struggles. She says performers endure a lot of pressure and rejection in the course of their daily work, so it’s important to develop skills and coping mechanisms to handle it. Having struggled with anxiety and perfectionism throughout her life, it wasn’t until 2020 when the pandemic hit that she sought help.  

“I got lucky, and my therapist happened to have trained as a concert pianist at a conservatory, so she was able to understand and relate to my struggles. The following audition season was the first time I felt like I could perform consistently in a way that was actually representative of my abilities, rather than shutting down in a mental spiral of anxiety.” 

Moving into the next phase of her career, Nanto is excited to strictly accept roles for mainstage work that fulfills her as an artist. Where she finds that fulfillment may vary from role to role — it may be a particular character she wants to embody, a company she wants to work for, or a project that’s doing something new and interesting. Having a wealth of diverse stage experience under her belt, Nanto knows what roles fill her cup and which roles she can pass on to another performer.  

Nanto's next performance will be singing as Hansel, her favorite role yet, in Hansel and Gretel with Opera Montana. Later this summer, she will return to the Santa Fe Opera to perform the role of Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto and cover Siegrune in Die Walküre. Always looking to grow and improve as an artist and performer, Nanto is excited to continue to put her UNC degree to work doing what she loves.