Kimberly is a Mexican- American soprano based in Southern California. She earned her BA in Music from CSU San Bernardino in 2021. Miss Benavides had an early introduction to music at the age of eight, when she learned to play the saxophone. She eventually ventured into vocal ensembles and found her passion for singing. During her undergrad, she participated in CSUSB’s Opera Theatre, where she was cast as the lead in Songs from the Uproar (Missy Mazzoli). She has also been cast in opera scenes such as Philip Glass’s Einstein On the Beach, Les Mamelles de Tiresias (Francis Poulenc), Spiritual Forest (Koji Nakano), I was looking at the ceiling and then I saw the sky (John Adams), scenes from Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, and scenes from Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Miss Benavides has received her M.M. in vocal performance at San Diego State University. During her studies at SDSU she stared as the mother in the opera Hansel and Gretel. Miss Benavides has also placed in various competitions such as 3rd in the La Jolla Symphony Young Artist Competition, and most recently 2nd in the Redlands Bowl Young Artist Vocal Competition.