The Chicago-born daughter of Armenian immigrants whose cathedral-deep contralto filled the Metropolitan Opera for 24 seasons — and then shaped a generation of singers at Yale.
Lili Chookasian (1921–2012) was one of the great contraltos of the 20th century — an Armenian-American from Chicago whose deep, velvet voice carried her from church choirs to a quarter century at the Metropolitan Opera.
Born to Armenian immigrant parents, she sang for years in Chicago before her late-blooming operatic break: her Met debut came in 1962, at age 40, as La Cieca in La Gioconda. She went on to sing nearly 300 performances at the Met over 24 seasons, alongside the era's giants and under conductors from Leonard Bernstein to Herbert von Karajan.
A renowned interpreter of Verdi, Wagner, and Mahler, she premiered works with the New York Philharmonic and sang at the opening festivities of the new Met at Lincoln Center. After retiring she taught at Yale, passing her art to a new generation.
A voice like a cathedral — vast, dark, and built to hold grief and glory at once.
— On the contralto of Lili ChookasianChookasian died in 2012 in Connecticut, celebrated as one of America's finest contraltos and one of the Armenian-American community's proudest cultural exports — the daughter of immigrants whose voice filled the greatest opera house in the country for a generation.
Discover the culture, history, and community behind figures like Lili Chookasian.
Heritage Month Explore Armenian Culture