Orna Arania

Associate Professor

Orna Arania, D.M.A., performed extensively as a soloist in concert series and festivals with most of the leading orchestras in her native country of Israel, and toured as a soloist with various Israeli ensembles in Italy, Germany, Austria, The Czech Republic, Hungary, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Canada and the United States.

Since arriving in the United States, she has performed extensively as a soloist with ensembles and orchestras such as The Peninsula Music Festival Orchestra, Distinguished Concerts International Orchestra New York, Elgin Symphony, Lima Symphony, Illinois Valley Symphony, The Callipygian Players, Ars Antigua, Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra, Ohio Northern University Symphony Orchestra and more.

Her performances include a vast repertoire of solo oratorio roles such as Hymn of Praise and Psalm 42 by Mendelssohn, Symphony No. 9, Mass in C and Choral Fantasy by Beethoven, Mass in C minor, Requiem and Vesperae Solennes de Confessore by Mozart, Theresienmesse by Haydn, Symphony No. 4 and Songs of a Wayfarer by Mahler, Messiah by Handel, the Requiems of Bruckner, Fauré and Rutter and many more. She also performed several contemporary concert pieces for voice and symphonic orchestra including the world-premiere of Quomodo Sedet Sola by Yehezkel Braun, and The New Moon by Tõnu Kõrvits, the American-premier of Mirror of Perfection by Richard Blackford, and the Illinois-premiere performances of American Requiem by Richard Danielpour, and Requiem for Peace by Larry Nickel. Her performances also include numerous chamber and solo recitals.

In addition to her performances as a soloist, she sings with leading ensembles in Chicago, such as Bella Voce and Bella Voce Camerata, and serves as both a singer and assistant conductor of The Lakeside Singers, with whom she performed extensively in prestigious venues throughout the Chicago area, including multiple appearances at the Ravinia Festival.

Arania earned both her Master of Music and Doctor of Music degrees in voice and opera performance from Northwestern University. Her bachelor's degree in voice (including a minor in choral conducting) is from the Buchman-Mehta School of Music (formally known as the Rubin Academy of Music), Tel Aviv University, Israel.