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The American soprano, Carley DeFranco, obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Music: Vocal Performance from American University (2009-2013); and her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from The Longy School of Music at Bard College (2013-2015). She also studied Music Performance at The University of Glasgow (2011). She was was the 2018-2019 Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellow with Emmanuel Music, a 2019 Fellow with American Bach Soloists, and a finalist for the American Prize (Professional Division) in Oratorio/Art song.
Carley DeFranco is a Boston-based soprano known for her committed dramatic portrayals. She has been a member of Emmanuel Music in Boston since March 2015 and has sung 70 cantatas in the weekly Emmanuel Music: Bach Cantata Series as well as the Mass in B Minor (BWV 232), St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244), St. Mark Passion (BWV 247), Easter Oratorio (BWV 249), John Harbison's Supper at Emmaus, Abraham, George Frideric Handel’s Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day and Angelo in the staged recording of La Resurrezione. Her solo cantata highlights from Emmanuel Music include Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen! BWV 51, Selig ist der Mann BWV 57, and Ach Gott wie manches Herzeleid, BWV 58. This season, she is a soloist in the St. John Passion (BWV 245), Magnificat (BWV 243) and John Harbison's Chorale Cantata for soprano, oboe, violin and strings.
An avid performer of concert music, Carley DeFranco has appeared as soprano soloist with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra (W.A. Mozart's Requiem), North Carolina Master Chorale (G.F. Handel’s Alexander’s Feast), American Bach Soloists Academy (Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl, BWV 198), and Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra (Charles Gounod’s Messe Solenelle, Camille Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël, Schubert’s Mass in Eb Major).
Carley DeFranco’s operatic credits include Susanna (W.A. Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro with Boston Opera Collaborative and Greater Worcester Opera, Lucy Lockit in The Beggar’s Opera with Emmanuel Music, The Rose in The Little Prince with NEMPAC Opera Project, the title role in G.F. Handel’s Alcina with Opera del West, Yvette in La Rondine with Boston Opera Collaborative, Nannetta in Falstaff with Emerald City Opera and many world premieres in Boston Opera Collaborative’s critically-acclaimed annual festival of ten-minute operas: Opera Bites. She is known for her committed dramatic portrayals; Boston Musical Intelligencer called her performance as Lucy Lockit “a joy to watch and hear” and her performance in Boston Opera Collaborative’s staged Frauenliebe und Leben “almost filmic in its realism”. This season, she joins the Boston Lyric Opera Chorus for their performances of Cavalleria Rusticana and Terence Blanchard's Champion.
In demand for her performances of new music by American composers, Carley DeFranco has given premieres at the Kennedy Center, Fog X FLO on the Emerald Necklace, New England Conservatory, Middlesex Community College, Mount Holyoke College, Longy School of Music, and American University. This year she was privileged to perform two new works by Mason Bynes with Boston Art Song Society: Dowland Impressions, arranged for voice and electric guitar and Songs for the People for voice and piano.
The 2021-2022 season brings performances with Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Art Song Society, Boston Cecilia, True Concord Voices & Orchestra, Boston Baroque, Handel and Haydn Society, Oregon Bach Festival and Monadnock Music.
While all performing is founded in community, Carley DeFranco finds special joy in singing at gatherings and community events. She has performed pop-up opera at the Roslindale Holiday Wander, sung from the back of a pick-up truck with Mass Opera, curated and performed concerts with Boston Opera Collaborative on the Emerald Necklace Series and throughout Boston, hosted private Zoom concerts with Emmanuel Music’s Musical Conversations initiative and given many tailored programs at birthday parties, wedding celebrations and holiday affairs. She has beeb Voice Teacher at Sitar Arts CenterS in Washington, DC (September 2009-May 2013); Choral Teaching Artist at The Metropolitan Opera Guild in Boston (September 2015-June 2018); Choral Director of Side by Side Chorus at Longy School of Music (September 2017-July 2019); Coordinator at Boston Opera Collaborative (September 2015-August 2020); Voice Teacher at LB Music School (since September 2018). |
