Soprano Elizabeth Galafa Ylaya is of Puerto Rican heritage & grew up bilingual. She was born in San Diego, California and raised in Orlando, Florida, where she began her vocal training at 14.

This past July, Elizabeth made her debut at the 45th Annual Oregon Coast Music Festival, where she performed several Spanish selections with the Pops Orchestra.

She begins her 2023-2024 season joining local artists Eli Schille-Hudson, classical guitarist and Cori Belle, pianist, in a Hispanic Heritage Concert, as a part of the Snohomish Concert Series. This holiday season you can catch Elizabeth with the Tacoma Concert Band, performing in their annual holiday concert, “Joy to the World”.

The 2022-2023 season included a recital at Dancing Fish Vineyards, performing classic Musical Theatre hits with local artists. In December 2022, she appeared as featured soloist with Symphony Tacoma in their Holiday Favorites concert. She also joined Tacoma Concert Band for their Sousa Spectacular.

In the 2021-2022 season, Elizabeth made her debut with the Federal Way Symphony, singing Rodrigo’s“Tríptic de Mossén Cinto”. In September 2021, she performed a solo recital at Seattle Opera, commemorating Seattle Opera’s first indoor public performance since the Covid-19 pandemic.

In November 2019, she made her Seattle Opera debut, performing the role of Toledo in the new American opera: The Falling and the Rising.

Some previous performance credits include Anita in West Side Story with Symphony Tacoma, Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni & Lola in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, both with OperaBend, & Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with N.O.I.S.E (Northwest Opera in Schools, etc.).

Elizabeth received an Encouragement Award at the 2018 Seattle Opera Guild Awards. She was also named a 2018 semi-finalist at the NATSAA Finals in New York City.

Elizabeth has been a young artist at Aquilon Music Festival, Miami Music Festival, and Operaworks. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from Stetson University and a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Michigan.

Elizabeth is also a private voice teacher & a licensed Music Together® teacher, a worldwide music & movement program for children from birth through age eight. She currently resides in Edmonds, Washington with her husband.