Hannah Rice

Hannah Rice (b. 2000) is a composer and coloratura soprano whose music features driving rhythms and stark contrasts with themes rooted in deepening her understanding of personal and collective human experiences, especially those of womxn. Currently, she is interested in exploring the raw release of screams and the different ways she can recreate this sound and feeling in vocal and concert music.

A champion of vocal music, Hannah was 1 of only 10 composers selected by the National Association of Teachers of Singing to be a part of their 2021-22 Composer Mentorship Program which included a commission from NATS, with major support from Lori Laitman, and the Cincinnati Song Initiative for their June 2022 concert, Let it Be New. In January of 2021, her choral piece “To Fly a Plane” from Dear World was published by Hal Leonard under the Craig Hella Johnson series.

Hannah is also passionate about chamber music, and her work has been performed at many festivals and venues including New Music on the Point, New Music on the Bayou, the International Clarinet Festival, the Meg Quigley Bassoon Symposium, the Music by Women Festival, and, most notably, Carnegie Hall. A lover of collaboration, her music has been played by Robert Black, Transient Canvas, Whistling Hens, Atlantic Brass Quintet, members of the International Contemporary Ensemble and the Beo String Quartet, and more. Hannah also enjoys scoring for film, and several of her tracks have been published by APM Music’s sound library, MPATH.

Not only is Hannah a composer but she is also an active performer of opera and new music. She was recently selected as a composer/performer at New Music on the Point where she sang pieces by Kerrith Livengood and Amy Beth Kirsten and also worked with Tony Arnold. Her recent opera roles include the Controller in Flight, Soeur Constance in Dialogues des Carmelites, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Despina in Così fan tutte, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in her own chamber opera, Seneca Falls. She also recently sang as the soprano soloist in Edge Ensemble’s performance of Kaija Saariaho’s Quatre Instants.

Hannah is currently pursuing a double M.M. degree at USC Thornton’s School of Music under the direction of Nina Young, Frank Ticheli, and Elizabeth Hynes. In 2022, she graduated from Louisiana State University with a dual B.M. degree in composition (Dr. Mara Gibson) and vocal performance (Dr. Lori Bade) where she was named a Presser Scholar and University Medalist.