Kyla McCarrel
Lecturer
Conservatory of Music, College of Performing Arts
Email: kmccarrel@chapman.edu
Website: kylamccarrel.com
Biography
Kyla McCarrel is an active performer and music educator in the Los Angeles and Orange
County areas. Kyla is thrilled to share her passion for music at Chapman University’s
Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music, where she has been on faculty since 2018, serving
as a current instructor of private voice and the former Conductor of the University
Treble Choir (2018-2022). Kyla holds a Master of Music degree from Arizona State University
(ASU) in Opera Performance and a Bachelor of Music degree from Chapman University
in Vocal Performance and Music Education (pre-certification).
While at ASU, Kyla studied with Carole FitzPatrick and performed a variety of operatic
roles including Adina (L’Elisir d’Amore), Josephine (H.M.S. Pinafore), and Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte) with Arizona State’s Music Theatre and Opera. Their production of H.M.S. Pinafore placed second for the 2017 American Prize in Opera—College/University division.
During her time at Chapman, Kyla studied with Dr. Rebecca Sherburn, Dr. David Alt,
and Margaret Dehning. As an undergraduate, Kyla performed a number of roles with Opera
Chapman and sang with the University Singers. Kyla has also worked as a conductor
and instructor with the Chapman Vocal Music Camp each summer from 2013–2017, 2019,
and 2023-2025.
Recent operatic performance credits include Publio, in Il Sogno di Scipione as a guest artist with Opera Chapman, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, also as a guest artist with Opera Chapman, and Baby Doe in the Ballad of Baby Doe with Opera in the Ozarks. Kyla is also an auxiliary member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale and serves as soprano
soloist and section leader at All Saints Church, Pasadena.
As a concert soloist, Kyla joined the Chapman Choirs and Orchestra in 2025 as the
soprano soloist in Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, and was the featured soloist in "A Southern California Christmas" at Musco Center
for the Arts (2019). Some of Kyla’s other concert soloist performances include Carmina Burana with the Mount Desert Summer Chorale in Bar Harbor, Maine, Beethoven’s Mass in C
Major, Honegger’s King David, and the Bach Magnificat.
As an alumna, Kyla is especially excited to share her love of music and her dedication
to the arts with the students of Chapman University.