As a performer, Shanelle has built a career spanning traditional repertoire, contemporary opera, new work, and musical theater. Her credits include Carmen in Bizet’s Carmen, Tituba in Robert Ward’s The Crucible, Ronnie in Hair, and The Judge in the world premiere of Stomping Grounds, a hip-hopera commissioned by The Glimmerglass Festival and later presented by Seattle Opera. She has appeared with Spoleto Festival USA as Annie in Porgy and Bess and Kentucky Kate in Afram ou La Belle Swita, and with the Colour of Music Festival in L’Amant Anonyme and the contemporary opera The Grey Land. Other work includes Alma Stinney in Stinney: An American Execution, Jenny Diver in The Threepenny Opera, the premiere of FIRESONGS with BARE Opera and National Sawdust, and performances with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra.

Her concert repertoire includes appearances as soprano soloist in Brahms’ Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Handel’s Messiah, along with works across the American art song and contemporary music traditions. An avid recitalist and curator, Shanelle has created programs including I, Too, Sing America, Songs of Love and Justice, and An Evening of African American Art Song, often using recital programming to amplify underrepresented composers and explore the relationship between music, culture, and social context. Recent operatic appearances include Mercedes in Carmen and La Badessa in Suor Angelica with Regina Opera. During the 2026–27 season, she returns to Regina Opera as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly and performs Strauss’ Four Last Songs with the Ocala Symphony Orchestra.

Shanelle has served on the voice faculties of Charleston Southern University, Claflin University, and New York University. She currently serves as Director of Education and Vocal Studies at the Grammy-nominated and Emmy Award-winning Young People’s Chorus of New York City, where she leads educational and vocal programming designed to support young artists both onstage and beyond it. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Charleston Southern University, a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Florida, and an Advanced Certificate in Vocal Pedagogy from New York University.

Her work as an educator extends beyond the private studio through workshops, masterclasses, clinician work, and conversations around inclusive and culturally responsive vocal pedagogy. In 2020, she founded the Ujima Sessions, an initiative offering free voice study to Black and Brown young singers as a way of reducing barriers to high-quality musical training.

Across both performance and pedagogy, Shanelle’s work is grounded in the belief that efficient, sustainable technique should expand rather than limit artistic possibility, giving each artist the freedom to communicate with stylistic versatility and a voice that remains unmistakably their own.