Olivia Yokers

About Olivia

Praised for singing with “gorgeous vulnerability” (The Richmond Times), Olivia Yokers is well-regarded for her thrilling voice and versatility onstage. Yokers has performed pieces spanning from Mozart to Rodgers and Hammerstein, as well as Philip Glass. Company engagements include Dayton Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Painted Sky Opera, Virginia Opera, and Charlottesville Opera. Her most notable roles are Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance (Dayton Opera, Tulane Summer Lyric, Utah Festival Opera), Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Dayton Opera, Chance Opera Theatre), Miss Honey in Matilda (Lyric Theatre OKC), Cinderella in Into the Woods (Utah Festival Opera), and Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Virginia Opera). As an advocate for new music, Yokers was a part of the debut of Before theNight Sky presented by Opera America New Opera Showcase. She also performed with the Indianapolis Opera with the first staged production of Akhnaten.

She has performed as a soloist in various concerts and oratorios including Haydn’s Creation and Handel’s Messiah. In 2020, Yokers was featured as a soloist in Oklahoma Lyric’s Moonlight Cabaret and in 2022 performed alongside the Canterbury Voices and Oklahoma City Philharmonic in both The Mass of the Children (John Rutter), and Dona nobis pacem (Ralph Vaughan Williams). Yokers’ awards include the title of Cincinnati Opera Idol, first prize in both the Dayton Opera Guild Competition and Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Colligate Competition, and first place at the Hamilton-Fairfield Symphony Guild Voice Competition.

Yokers is an adjunct Professor of Voice at the University of Central Oklahoma and Oklahoma City University. She earned her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music in vocal performance from Indiana University and is in the process of earning her doctorate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

I believe it is my job as a teacher to create a safe space for my students to learn and grow in their craft. I try to inspire my students to lead with curiosity, to ask the hard questions, and to be brave.