Olivia Smith

Full Biography

Lauded for her “rich, humane soprano” (Opera Canada) and “convincing and poignant” portrayals (Boston Musical Intelligencer), Canadian soprano Olivia Smith is a current member of San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Adler Fellowship Program, where in Fall 2024 she debuts the role of Micaëla at SFO’s immersive experience Carmen Encounter. She also covers Micaëla for the mainstage Carmen performances, and will be heard in various SFO concert performances throughout the season. Additionally in the 2024-25 season, Smith makes her role and company debut as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at the Opera Philadelphia, under the baton of Corrado Rovaris.

Last season in San Francisco, Olivia Smith sang the Erste Dame in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte and received praise for her portrayal of Chrisann Brennan in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs by Mason Bates and Mark Campbell. She made her San Francisco Opera mainstage debut in the Spring of 2023 as the Voice of the Falcon in Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten and performed the role of Mimí in the company’s production of Bohème Out of the Box. Smith was a participant in the 2022 Merola Opera Program, where she appeared as Margarita Xirgu in scenes from Golijov’s Ainadamar, and as Leila in an excerpt from Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Smith performed the Governess in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw with Curtis Opera Theater and Marguerite in excerpts of Gounod’s Faust with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. Additional roles include Cathleen in Vaughan Williams’ Riders to the Sea, the First Witch in Dido and Aeneas, and Mrs. Gobineau in Menotti’s The Medium.

Olivia Smith has received recognition from Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competition, where she received both the Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award and the Online Viewers’ Choice Award. She was the First Place Winner in Opera Grand Rapids’ VanderLaan Prize competition and received an encouragement grant from the George and Nora Foundation for Singers.