Iryna Photography
ABOUT FRANCESCA
Indian-American soprano Francesca Mehrotra has been hailed as “a talented and warm actor and singer” with “clear, deft and nimble tone (Glens Falls Chronicle).” This month, Francesca returns to the semifinals of the 2024 Lotte Lenya Competition, in which she was a finalist in 2022. Later this year, Francesca will perform with Pacific Symphony as Johanna in Sweeney Todd. Recent engagements include Clara (u/s) in The Light in the Piazza and Ida in Die Fledermaus with Central City Opera, and Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance with Opera Colorado.
Equally comfortable in 21st-century repertoire, Francesca recently participated in a workshop with Catalyst New Music of This Is Not That Dawn, a new opera which tells the story of two women separated during the partition of India. Francesca was honored to bring the true story of Mukhtar Mai to life in a virtual production of Kamala Sankaram's Thumbprint at Boston Conservatory. She sang in the original reading and workshop of Evan Mack and Joshua McGuire’s The Ghosts of Gatsby, where she sang Zelda '18, later reprising this role with Opera Birmingham at the New Works Forum through Opera America. Francesca continued collaborating with Mack on Regret and Redemption, a song cycle for soprano that she commissioned through Texas Christian University. Additionally, Francesca was selected to participate in Fort Worth Opera’s Frontiers Festival, a new music initiative that showcases new operatic works, and was a two-time featured soloist in the Festival of American Song with Jake Heggie and John Corigliano.
Other notable operatic roles include Gilda (Rigoletto) and Juliette (Die Tote Stadt) with Opera Colorado, Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) and Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare in Egitto) with Seagle Festival, Norina (Don Pasquale) at Boston Conservatory, Gretel (Hansel and Gretel) with Fort Worth Opera Children’s Theatre, Atalanta (Serse) with Opera NEO, and Tytania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Nannetta (Falstaff), and Suor Genovieffa (Suor Angelica) at Texas Christian University.
Francesca is a proud alumna of Seagle Festival’s Emerging Artist Program, which she attended for three summers. She holds a Master of Music in Opera Performance from Boston Conservatory, where she was the inaugural recipient of the Robert C. Volante Scholarship and graduated summa cum laude. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Bachelor of Science in Strategic Communication from Texas Christian University, where she was awarded the prestigious Chancellor Scholar Award and graduated summa cum laude.
Iryna Photography
TO LEARN AND INSPIRE LOVE.
I believe that at our core, we all want to be fully seen and fully loved. Fostering compassion lies at the heart of my artistic purpose; it is the seed from which understanding, unity, and authentic love stem. In my personal life as well as my artistic life, I seek to brighten the dim spaces by bringing joy, hope, and a greater understanding of the human experience. Through each performance, I hope to inspire audiences to discover, ponder, and appreciate the complexity and beauty of their inner selves and the world around them. The arts open a window of perspective to us that allows us to engage with humanity in a new way. The stories we hear teach us to better walk with our neighbors. They encourage us to go deeper, to get vulnerable, to recognize that there is more than what meets the eye, and to strive for connection. It is through this communion that we will have the freedom to delight in the beauty within and around us. Through my art form, I am continuously learning to better love others whose journeys vary from my own. Delving into each character's worldview teaches me something new and surprising. I hope that sharing their stories opens hearts and minds to new concepts and relationships.