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 gives meaningful & embodied performances.
Her favorite projects include the roles of Anna/Dido in the east-coast premiere of Dido’s Ghost (Errolyn Wallen) with Emmanuel Music, a fully staged Les Illuminations (Benjamin Britten) with Urbanity Dance choreographed by Shura Baryshnikov, the Angel in a film version of La Resurrezione (Handel) with Emmanuel Music, singing and dancing onstage as a siren with Boston Ballet and Lorelei Ensemble in La Mer, the premiere of Lost Birds (Christopher Tin) with VOCES 8, a site-specific staging of Frauenliebe und Leben with Boston Opera Collaborative, and the premiere of Earth Symphony (Jake Runestad) with True Concord Voices & Orchestra.
Carley was the 2024-25 season Shrestinian Award Winner for her artistic and collegial contributions to the Boston Lyric Opera Chorus. She enjoys many performances with BLO, including in their community programming (Boston Public Library Concert in the Courtyard, Street Stage, donor events), covering the role of Ismene in Mitridate, and as a chorus member in many productions, some in partnership with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Carley continues her tenure with her musical home, Emmanuel Music, where she has sung more than 100 cantatas in the Sunday Bach Cantata Series. A former Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellow, Carley has been a soloist and chorister in most of Emmanuel’s recent concert and staged productions, including Harbison’s Chorale Cantata, St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion, Magnificat, Mass in B Minor, Christmas Oratorio, The Beggar’s Opera (Britten, as Lucy Lockit), La Resurrezione (Handel, as Angelo) and Dido’s Ghost (Errolyn Wallen, as Anna/Dido).
Carley has been a guest soloist with the Spectrum Singers, Worcester Chorus, Lexington Symphony, Back Bay Chorale, Falmouth Chorale, Boston Cecilia, Boston Choral Ensemble, Con Brio Choral Society, MIT Choruses, Harvard Choruses, Monadnock Music, Sarasa Ensemble, Aurora Ensemble, Silentwoods Collective, Alea III and Musicians of the Old Post Road, among others. A dedicated chorister, Carley recently returned to the Oregon Bach Festival to perform Considering Matthew Shepard with Craig Hella Johnson and the Mass in B Minor with Jos van Veldhoven. She performs regularly with the ensembles of Upper Valley Baroque, Ensemble Altera, Handel & Haydn Society, True Concord Voices & Orchestra and Oregon Bach Festival.
Carley’s operatic credits include Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) with Boston Opera Collaborative and Greater Worcester Opera, The Rose (The Little Prince) with NEMPAC Opera Project, the title role in Alcina with Opera del West, Yvette (La Rondine) with Boston Opera Collaborative, Nannetta (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”.
In demand for her performances of new music, Carley has given premieres with the Kennedy Center, Fog X FLO on the Emerald Necklace, New England Conservatory, Middlesex Community College, Mount Holyoke College, Longy School of Music, American University, Boston Art Song Society and WordSong.
While all performing is founded in community, Carley 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, hosted private Zoom concerts with Emmanuel Music’s Musical Conversations initiative and given many tailored programs at birthday parties, wedding celebrations and holiday affairs.
Carley is the founder of DeFranco Music LLC and partners with local schools to offer in-school music lessons. She is a Voice Instructor in Harvard University’s Holden Voice Program and teaches voice lessons (in-person or online) from her home in Brookline.