Praised as an "artistically-sensitive” singer with a “beautiful light lyric voice with an interesting color,” Hannah Karel is an avid performer of opera, art song, and choral music, with a passion for teaching. She is an adjunct faculty member at Cornerstone University, where she teaches applied voice, and serves Reformation Heritage Books as the bookstore manager. 

Ms. Karel received her master’s degree in performance from Eastern Michigan University in 2021. While at Eastern, she served as a graduate assistant (GA) to the voice area. As part of her duties as a GA, Mrs. Karel acted as assistant director of Opera Workshop, where she gained experience in devising choreography and staging, leading music rehearsals, and writing the script for a student-derived show. Ms. Karel is passionate about music’s intersection with literature, religion, philosophy, art, history, and culture. Pursuing this passion in research, her paper “Long Ago and Far Away: Exoticism of Fantasy Music” was featured in Eastern Michigan University’s virtual 2020 Graduate Research Conference. She believes that a musical performance is best when informed by many perspectives and disciplines, and this is reflected in her teaching philosophy and practice.

Ms. Karel has performed with Opera Grand Rapids, Red River Lyric Opera, and numerous choirs. Her performance experience includes the roles of Goldie B. Locks (Goldie B. Locks and the Three Singing Bears) and 1st Alms Sister (Suor Angelica), cover role as Hebe (H.M.S. Pinafore), and partial roles as Countess (The Marriage of Figaro) and Pamina (The Magic Flute).

In March 2020, she was awarded second place in Eastern Michigan University's Graduate Performance Competition. Her prior awards include Hope College’s Concerto-Aria Competition (2018) and the Sakiko Kanamori Prize (2018).