After winning the Concorso Belli, Monica Bacelli made her debut in Spoleto as Cherubino and Dorabella. Since then her career has taken her to major theatres in Italy and throughout the world, including La Scala, the Vienna State Opera, Salzburg Festival and Covent Garden, and to leading orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.

Her wide repertoire includes all the principle Mozart roles for mezzo soprano (Idamante, Cherubino, Elvira, Dorabella and Sesto), Rossini, baroque (Monteverdi, Cavalli, Handel) as well as French operas, including Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Werther, Don Quichotte and L’Enfant et les sortilèges.

Monica Bacelli is recognised as a leading interpreter of contemporary music, both in concert and on the stage. She has sung many world premieres, including the title role in Ivan Fedele’s 'Antigone' at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. She is noted for her long collaboration with Luciano Berio who wrote several roles for her as well as the chamber work 'Altra voce', presented at the Salzburg Festival as part of the Pollini project, and repeated in New York, Tokyo, Paris and Rome.

Her searching interpretative curiosity, her interest in chamber music and her research into unusual vocal repertoire have led her in recent years into a wide variety of projects ranging from early to contemporary music, with a focus on Italian art song of the 20th century.

Monica Bacelli is the recipient of the Premio Abbiati, a prize awarded by the Italian music critics.