Photos by Ethan DePuy
Above and beyond her inimitable tone, DeFranco’s control in dynamics and subtlety of phrasing stood almost above the rest of the show.
Matthew Winkler, The Boston Musical Intelligencer - Les Illuminations with Emmanuel Music and Urbanity Dance
Described as “sunny,” “supple,” and “soaring,” soprano Carley DeFranco brings warmth, vivid storytelling, and embodied artistry to an adventurous range of repertoire.
From singing and dancing as a siren with Boston Ballet to bringing new works to life and exploring the drama of Baroque opera, she thrives at the intersection of music, movement, and human connection.
A former Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellow, Carley has made Emmanuel Music her musical home, performing in its weekly Bach cantata presentations for more than 100 cantatas and appearing as both soloist and chorister in an array of concert and staged productions. Her memorable work with Emmanuel Music includes the roles of Anna and Dido in the East Coast premiere of Errolyn Wallen’s Dido’s Ghost, Angelo in Handel’s La Resurrezione, Lucy Lockit in Britten’s The Beggar’s Opera, and a staged performance of Britten’s Les Illuminations.
Carley is also a dedicated member of the Boston Lyric Opera Chorus, where she received the Shrestinian Award for her artistic and collegial contributions. Her work with BLO extends beyond the opera house to community concerts, public programming, and special events; she has also covered the role of Ismene in Mozart’s Mitridate.
This season, Carley performs the title role in The Loves of Mars and Venus with the Henry Purcell Society of Boston. Her concert engagements include Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle with Spectrum Singers, Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with Harvard Radcliffe Chorus, Nordic Circle: Music from Scandinavia with Sarasa Ensemble, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with Heritage Chorale, and Handel’s Messiah with New England Baroque and the Connecticut Early Music Festival. She continues to sing in the ensembles of Emmanuel Music, the Handel and Haydn Society, Oregon Bach Festival, Bach Charlotte, and Boston Lyric Opera.
Highlights from last season include the title role in Theodora with Bach Charlotte, Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten with Chorus Pro Musica, Brahms’s Requiem and the premiere of Jonathan Bailey Holland’s The Nature of Lost Time with Masterworks Chorale, and Bach’s secular cantatas BWV 201 and BWV 207 with Jos van Veldhoven and the Oregon Bach Festival.
Her operatic credits include Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, the title roles in Alcina and Theodora, the roles of Dido, Belinda, and Second Woman in Dido and Aeneas, Nannetta in Falstaff, and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi. Equally at home in collaborative and interdisciplinary projects, she has performed a fully staged production of Les Illuminations in partnership with Shura Baryshnikov, Urbanity Dance, and Emmanuel Music; appeared in a film version of Handel’s La Resurrezione; and performed the U.S. premiere of Christopher Tin’s Lost Birds with VOCES8.
Beyond the stage, Carley delights in bringing music into unexpected spaces, from site-specific performances and pop-up opera to intimate celebrations. She is the founder of DeFranco Music LLC, teaches voice through Harvard University’s Holden Voice Program, and maintains a private voice studio in Brookline, Massachusetts. She is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), and Beyond Artists.